


The Charlatan and the Pirate Queen: A Reyes Vidal origin story

by queenofkadara



Series: The Vidal Chronicles [3]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Angst, Crimes & Criminals, Dark Reyes, Dark!Reyes, Dominant Reyes, F/M, Light BDSM, Murder, Origin Story, Rough Sex, Sex, Smuggling, Suspense, Torture, dom!reyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-06 18:07:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 53,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11041485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofkadara/pseuds/queenofkadara
Summary: Reyes Vidal is a man with a dark and dangerous past... and he learned every dirty, murderous trick from the darkest, most dangerous asari of all.This is a non-canon origin story that attempts to explain how Reyes came to become the Charlatan... and is also a shameless excuse to combine two of my favourite badass ME characters - Reyes Vidal and Aria T'Loak. Cameos of other beloved characters from the original trilogy will also be featured.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This prologue assumes some familiarity with my Reyes/Ryder romance fic, but it's not a prerequisite. If you're interested, please feel free to check out my Reyesmance titled "Love, Lies and Paradise"!

Mara rolled onto her side to face Reyes as he lay on his back, replete with sexual satisfaction. He smiled lazily at her, his bronze eyes warm, and ran his fingers languidly through her pixie-short hair. 

Mara gently traced the line of his chin with a finger. “Reyes, tell me something I don’t know. Tell me a story.” 

Reyes chuckled. “A story? What are you, five years old?” 

Mara laughed and smacked him lightly on his bare chest. “Come on, Charlatan, I know you’re bursting with stories,” she said mockingly. “Tell me something.”

Reyes studied her face. Her mouth was curled in a playful smirk, but her eyes were serious. It was rare that anyone asked him about himself; everyone was just interested in his business contacts and in making profitable deals. But Mara Ryder wasn’t most people. And he’d promised her he wouldn’t lie about the big stuff. _Well, what’s bigger than my past?_ he thought. He felt a small pang of trepidation at the thought of telling her the nastier parts of his history. His Mara had a strong stomach and was surprisingly ruthless when she had to be, but the list of things he had done in the past might be… hard for the Pathfinder to hear. 

He gave a little sigh. _She’s trusted me and accepted me so far… I guess it’s my turn to take a leap of faith in her._ He looked at her, his face serious. “You want a story?” he said. He watched as she examined his face with her almond-shaped jade eyes, a small frown drawing her eyebrows together, and she nodded slowly. “I want to know you, Reyes. Nothing you could tell me is off-limits.” 

Reyes pursed his lips thoughtfully, then shifted up in the bed until he was sitting upright, and pulled her up to sit next to him. “Okay… but remember, you asked for it.” He looked her in the eye. “I’ll tell you how I learned to be the Charlatan. And the person who taught me everything I know… Every underhanded, murderous thing.” He took a deep breath and braced himself to say the name of the demon whose face still haunted his dreams sometimes, and who had been a major reason for his leaving - nay, fleeing - the Milky Way for Andromeda. 

“Back in the Milky Way… had you ever heard of Aria T’Loak?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reyes Vidal and Aria T'Loak, amirite??? Is it just me, or is this not the perfect character meeting/origin story for the Charlatan? 
> 
> I am a HUGE Aria fan and a HUGE Reyes fan... so I can't wait to sink my teeth into this.
> 
> And yep, there will be smut.
> 
> Comments and feedback always appreciated! This is my first truly non-canon attempt at an "original"-ish story... so please be gentle! :3


	2. Torture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes Vidal, shuttle pilot and intelligence officer for the Alliance, goes on a mission that takes him to Omega... and meets the Pirate Queen of Omega in a decidedly unexpected way.

**Back in the year 2183 C. E...**

An unearthly-sounding scream pierced Reyes Vidal’s ears. The pain was so intense that it took a moment for Reyes to realize that the scream he’d heard was his own. He gasped, sweat dripping down his face onto the metal table, then forced himself to inhale through his nose, trying to focus on his breathing instead of the white-hot agony of his back. 

For the hundredth time, Reyes wondered how his corporal could have gotten things so wrong. Their mission was top-secret, known only to Admiral Anderson and the squad. But Reyes had barely had time to land the shuttle on Omega before the rest of his squad was bodily dragged out by a handful of mercs. 

_I guess I should consider myself lucky that I avoided getting beaten for as long as I did on this shithole of a station,_ he thought bitterly. Then words and cohesive thought left him as another searing streak of pain lashed across his back. 

*****************

**One day earlier…**

Reyes flew the shuttle with focused concentration, listening vaguely to his squadmates joking around as they approached Omega. He’d never been one for participating in the usual pre-mission banter, though he found it comforting. Instead of ribbing with the others, Reyes reviewed what they knew about their current mission.

It was an unusual mission, that much was certain. Admiral Anderson had specifically contacted his squad leader, Corporal Ming Gojevic, for a mission that was to be kept secret even from the Council. Anderson had allegedly received word that the de facto ruler of Omega, a former asari commando named Aria T’Loak, had intel about a major threat to humanity - something about some group called the Collectors. Gojevic’s squad was tasked with obtaining the information from Aria, with the alibi of being on Omega to recover a shipment of Alliance-class weapons that had been stolen by a small-time criminal group called the Talons. 

Privately, Reyes was skeptical about the validity of the mission, and his skepticism wasn’t much relieved when Gojevic informed the squad that Anderson’s source was a Prothean academic. _What a Prothean professor has to do with galactic security is beyond me, but also beyond my pay grade, I guess,_ Reyes thought. 

Reyes had lost count of the number of intel-gathering missions he had completed. It was unusual for a shuttle pilot to become an intelligence officer, and Reyes had largely fallen into the role by accident. Alliance training seemed so long ago now - _what was it, nine years ago? Ten?_ \- but Reyes had first stood out among his cohort specifically by _not_ standing out. Unlike many soldiers, Reyes had been reserved, unassuming, and watchful. He was a chameleon, blending into any group without drawing notice for being too talkative or too quiet. He’d excelled at pilot training and mechanics, but nobody knew it since Reyes never talked about himself. He had a way of deflecting attention even when his skills were well above average. As a result, he’d gotten himself noticed by a recon officer, Jen Tahashi, who had persuaded him to get recon training and then to join Gojevic’s intel gathering team as a double-duty shuttle pilot/intel officer. 

Nine (or was it ten?) years and countless missions later, Reyes had enough experience to notice that this mission felt different somehow. The Citadel was still reeling from the great battle that had taken place just a few months ago, and Reyes suspected that the Council’s anxiety and paranoia were affecting their critical thinking skills… including the decision to take the tip for this current mission seriously. But Gojevic was definitely taking the mission seriously; Reyes had never seen her so quiet and still during a rideout. She usually liked to joke along with the squad in order to engender good humour and teamwork before the mission. 

As they zipped within hailing distance of Omega, Gojevic turned to the small squad of four, including Reyes and Gojevic herself. “Okay, listen up,” she said, her tone uncharacteristically serious. “This mission might sound frivolous, but believe me when I say the stakes are high. Now, we can’t hide that we’re Alliance; but we do this as quickly and _politely_ as possible. You know about Aria T’Loak from the briefings; you know she is not to be trifled with.” Gojevic stared at the squad until they all nodded, including Reyes. “Good. Remember, small arms and blades only. We don’t want to present a threat.” 

Reyes eyes his flight control display and frowned. They were five minutes from docking, and he hadn’t yet received a hail from Omega’s docking bay. _That’s unusual,_ he thought, and pointed it out to Gojevic. “Not sure whether protocols are more casual on this station, given its reputation,” he added. 

Gojevic pursed her lips and shook her head. “Unfortunately, I’m not familiar enough with this place to know what their usual protocol is. Let’s just land, and we’ll figure it out from there.” 

Reyes nodded a sharp affirmative and smoothly settled the shuttle in the docking bay. The other two team members, Adhira Kaur and Deshawn Andrews, unstrapped their safety restraints and stood. But before Reyes could do anything more than unstrap himself from his seat, there was a loud banging on the shuttle door. 

Gojevic looked at Reyes in alarm, and gave one sharp nod. Immediately, Kaur and Andrews stepped to the periphery of the shuttle, and Reyes slid into the passenger area of the shuttle. He pulled a lever at the bottom of the seat that Kaur had just vacated, and the seat tilted back by 90 degrees. Reyes lifted a hidden panel under the seat, revealing a hidden compartment. He swiftly slid into the compartment, and one of his teammates closed the compartment, enclosing Reyes in darkness. 

There was a second round of banging on the shuttle door, and then a deep batarian voice barked, “Open up!” Reyes closed his eyes for a second, grateful for the hidden compartments that had recently been installed in all Alliance recon shuttles. This was only the second time Reyes had had to use it, though. He could either exit the compartment from the way he got in, or via a narrow passage that emerged at the starboard base of the shuttle, on the opposite side as the door. Reyes dearly hoped he would be able to get out the way he got in. 

Reyes heard the shuttle door open, and then heavy footsteps entering the shuttle… A lot of footsteps. 

“Excuse me! What do you think you’re-” Gojevic’s voice was cut off by the distinctive thudding noise that accompanied a blunt strike to the abdomen. 

“Shut the fuck up,” the batarian voice said. Kaur’s voice then floated to Reyes’ ears: “Get your hands off me!” Reyes’ heart rate doubled as he heard the sharp crack of a slap, followed by a squeal of pain. There was a brisk shuffling noise, two more heavy thuds, a loud _thump_ that sounded like a body hitting the floor, and then a brief silence. 

“Get them out of here,” the batarian voice said. “Aria will know about this soon. We need the information before she raids the HQ again.” 

There was a grunted affirmative, and then heavy sliding noises… likely the sounds of his squad being dragged off to the HQ of whoever had taken them out. Reyes felt a slow trickle of sweat drip down his nose. He continued to breathe silently through his mouth until the sound of footsteps completely disappeared. _Well, this is a clusterfuck,_ he thought. He was now stuck waiting in the shuttle’s hidden compartment until it was safe to emerge and blend into the general population on Omega… and that would likely take hours. Reyes slowly and silently slid his left arm up until he could see his watch. The time was 13:07. Reyes gave an internal sigh, and forced his muscles to relax. _Need to prevent cramps and stay mobile… This might end up being a rescue mission as well as intel-gathering._ In all recon missions, the primary goal was always to recover the intel, but given the unprecedented attack, Reyes was fairly sure he would get a slap on the wrist if he didn’t at least try to rescue his entire squad. He smirked faintly; he never failed to amuse himself, especially in high-pressure situations. 

The hours crept by as slowly as an elcor production of Hamlet. Reyes alternated between meditative breathing to master his nerves - a skill which he’d mastered when he was a young teenager - and listening curiously to the dockside chatter, picking up tidbits of local news. He managed to hear a comment from some idiot about the Blue Suns’ new prisoners… _and now I know who to look for to find Gojevic and the others,_ he thought. But Reyes couldn't figure out why a merc gang would attack an Alliance shuttle so brutally and without provocation. 

Reyes was also interested in the locals’ thoughts about the notorious Aria T’Loak. Everything Reyes knew about Aria was from the briefing on this mission, and it wasn’t much, but the opinions of the dock’s denizens were enough to pique his curiosity. Aria seemed to elicit very polarized feelings in the populace: devotion and hatred, terror and admiration, and above all, _caution_. 

At around 05:00, the noises on the docking bay had largely settled, and Reyes felt it would be safe to finally exit the shuttle. Slowly and painstakingly, he slid along the length of the compartment to the hidden exit on the starboard side. He pulled up his omni-tool and scanned for heat signatures: none nearby. Reyes slowly slid the hidden door open, waited for one minute, then slid out of the compartment. Slowly, silently, he rose to his feet, and seeing nobody in the vicinity, he slid into the nearest bank of shadows and quietly made his way towards the slums. He laid low there until the marketplace opened. 

******************

The night cycle was in full swing on Omega, and the station was twice as lively as it was during the day. Dressed in rumpled civvy clothes, Reyes stood in the lineup for a club called Afterlife, chatting and joking with a turian weapons merchant and his human business partner. Reyes was playing the part of the good-natured doofus Alliance lackey, on shore leave on big-and-bad Omega, and his acting seemed successful so far: the merchant, who had sold weapons to Aria’s people on multiple occasions, had already mentioned the name of Aria’s right-hand man - one Anto Korragan - and where exactly in Afterlife she could be found. Reyes continued to banter with the merchants until the elcor bouncer finally let him in. 

Reyes bade farewell to his new friends and strolled to the bar. He ordered a whiskey and made some idiotic comment to the bartender about the dancing talent. Then he leaned against the bar, drinking his whiskey and gazing around in apparent wonder. In reality, he was checking the security level in the bar… _and fuck, is it heavy._ There were heavily armed guards at every entrance. And at the raised dais, where Aria was allegedly situated, there were at least four guards that he could see. Reyes had no intention of pulling his weapons if he could avoid it, but he wanted to at least know what he’d be up against if it came to that. _Definitely not a situation where I want to take my chances._

Reyes had just finished his whiskey and was deciding how to approach Aria when he suddenly felt the muzzle of a small gun in his back. He closed his eyes in resignation. _Fuck’s sake. This is just one disaster after another,_ he thought as he slowly turned to face his assailant. A small asari dancer, whom Reyes had completely overlooked, was smiling flirtatiously at him, but her eyes were hard and cold as marbles as she kept the gun leveled at his liver. 

“Aria would like to make your acquaintance,” she murmured in a faux-sexy voice. 

Reyes managed to smile charmingly at the dancer. “Aria T’Loak? I’m a huge fan. It must be my lucky day.”

The dancer gave a nasty laugh and pushed the muzzle firmly into his abdomen under the guise of pressing herself against him sensually. “A smartass, eh? You’ll watch your fucking mouth or Aria will cut it off for you.” She gave him a small push in the direction of the dais, her tiny pistol still pointed at him. Sighing, Reyes walked towards the dais, ignored by the club’s partying clientele. 

He slowly walked up the dais, noting that there were actually eight guards on Aria’s dais alone. _If she can afford to have this many men in this club right now, how many does she have on the station in total?_ he wondered incredulously. 

A batarian guard scanned Reyes with his omni-tool, and the omni-tool beeped twice as it identified the knife sheathed on his belt and the small pistol at the small of his back… but the guard didn’t relieve Reyes of his weapons. This made him more nervous than reassured. _This woman isn’t intimidated by weapons._ The guard jerked his head in Aria’s direction, a silent order for Reyes to step forward. And finally, at the top of the dais, he got his first glimpse of Omega’s Pirate Queen. 

Aria T’Loak was short - almost a foot shorter than Reyes - but her small frame exuded a krogan battlemaster’s worth of power. Her asari curves were wrapped in a skintight black bodysuit with tantalizing cutouts that forcibly - and distractingly - reminded Reyes of bondage gear, but her broad-shouldered white jacket neutralized the sexiness and added to her mien of authority. Her upright posture spoke of confidence, and the tilt of her chin and her folded arms screamed cold, hard power. There was no doubt in Reyes’ mind that this woman was a force to be reckoned with.

Aria kept her back to him and continued to watch the goings-on in the club as though she had all the time in the world. Slowly, she turned her head to look at him, and her gaze was ice cold and bored as fuck. “You’re with the Alliance,” she said; it was a statement, not a question. The voice matched the woman: smooth as silk, ice cold, and completely controlled. 

Reyes was fairly sure that Aria would see through his idiot-Alliance-boy persona in two seconds, but he had to give it a try. He smiled broadly at her and gave a small salute. “Yes ma’am! First time on shore leave on Omega. I can’t believe I’m meeting you on my first time here!” 

“Cut the shit,” she said coolly, a tiny hint of impatience in her voice. She then turned to face him. “I know you came here with a little squad of do-gooders on a shuttle yesterday afternoon. I have your people.” She raised one eyebrow at him, gauging his reaction. 

_Hmm,_ Reyes thought, _Looks like that Blue Suns thug was right about Aria raiding their HQ._ Reyes gave up the doofus act abruptly, arranging his face into a completely neutral expression. He straightened out of his casual, loose posture and adopted an at-ease stance. Aria was clearly far too intelligent to fool with simple deception. “That’s correct. We came on a mission.” 

Aria tilted her head slightly, her face still cool and expressionless. Then, to Reyes’ surprise, she said, “Does this have anything to do with that T’Soni bitch?”

Reyes didn’t move a muscle, not on his body, not on his face. He even continued to breathe normally. But his mind was racing. _Shit. How does she know?_ he thought. His squad had their alibi, and all intel officers were extensively trained in dissembling and deception. If one of them had actually cracked and told their real reason for being there… _The mission is compromised,_ he thought, his stomach dropping in dread both at the thought of failure, but also at the unwelcome question: _What did she have to do to get our real purpose out of the squad?_

To Reyes’ dismay, Aria seemed to have seen something in his face, because she turned away from him and gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Lock him up. Interrogate him.” 

Reyes opened his mouth to protest - _what the fuck!_ \- but before he could say a word, an electric shock pulsed over his body, seizing his breathing and his muscles. Suddenly, the floor was rushing towards his face and then-

***************

Aria stood at the wall of monitors in her office, watching the Alliance man being tortured. The man - a Terran named Reyes Vidal, according to his dog tags - howled in pain as one of Aria’s torturers, a turian named Cassian, lashed him a third time. 

_So he’s affected by the conventional methods of torture,_ she thought impassively. _Must be his first time in the chair._ And yet, despite the four lashes to his back, he wasn’t a sobbing mess, and he wasn’t begging for mercy. That was something of a surprise. 

Aria watched the monitor more closely as Cassian delivered another blow of the whip to the Alliance officer’s back. He screamed, but then… Aria narrowed her eyes as she watched him, then drew back with a faint hint of a smile on her lips. _He’s using meditative breathing to master the pain,_ she thought, with a twinge of approval. Breathing techniques and meditation were taught to asari children as a matter of course, but Aria knew that only certain humans from certain cultures learned them. _Looks like this Reyes Vidal clown is one of them,_ she thought. Aria always made sure that her own people learned meditative breathing, specifically for this purpose: to withstand torture. 

After Cassian delivered a sixth blow to the human’s back, she called him on her omni-tool. “Stop,” she said flatly. “I’m coming down.” Aria didn’t wait for a reply before ending the call. She turned away from the monitors and headed towards her holding cells in the sub-basement of Afterlife. _If he’s new to torture but not sobbing for mercy after six lashes, I won’t get anything from him by submitting him to further pain. Seeing another human in pain, on the other hand…_

She walked leisurely, her casual stroll contrasting with her rapidly shifting thoughts. Aria had known that telling that Liara T’Soni bitch about the Collectors and their mystery cargo might bring more trouble… but she hadn’t been expecting the Alliance to show up at her door. And she definitely hadn’t been expecting the Blue Suns to attack the Alliance berks before they’d even had time to try to suck up to her. _You’d think that fistful of assholes would have learned their lesson after I destroyed their little meeting with the Collectors a few months ago. They’re getting cocky… These contracts they keep getting must be worth a hell of a lot for them to be willing to cross me._

It wouldn’t do for the Blue Suns to think they could kidnap whoever they pleased, especially if it had the potential of interfering with Aria’s other businesses. So Aria had reinforced her lesson in the early hours of the morning. Accompanied by Anto and another guard, she’d stormed the Blue Suns’ HQ and killed a third of their operatives with a single biotic blast before asking any questions. Then she’d taken the three Alliance hostages back to Afterlife with her, leaving a message with the surviving operatives: “Tell Tarak to call me. Immediately.” The Blue Suns’ leader had called her within the hour; by that time, the male Alliance berk had expired from wounds inflicted by Tarak’s thugs. She had told Tarak in no uncertain terms that he would keep his hands off any Alliance personnel unless expressly told otherwise by her. With a significant proportion of his operatives bleeding on the floor of the HQ, he had agreed. _Like he had a fucking choice,_ Aria thought coldly as she descended the lift to the sub-basement. 

Aria’s first stop was the cell containing the two remaining Alliance operatives, each with their hands cuffed and their feet loosely bound so they could walk but not run. Both operatives looked distinctly the worse for wear; they’d suffered a substantial beating at the hands of the Blue Suns, a beating that the male officer hadn't survived.

Grizz, a faithful batarian, was standing guard over the two Alliance women. Aria jerked her chin wordlessly at the older woman, who seemed to be the leader of the squad from her age and stoic bearing. Grizz grabbed the woman and pulled her out of the cell. 

“Where are you taking her?” croaked the younger human, a woman with mocha-brown skin and a snotty, tear-stained face. 

“Quiet, Kaur,” the older woman said firmly. 

“Yes, Kaur, be quiet,” Aria said lazily, not bothering to spare a glance at either woman’s face. She pulled the leader’s dog tags from her shirt and glanced at them. “Ming Gojevic. So, Ming. How do you feel about Kaur exposing your little secret mission? It's a bit late for her to be quiet now.” Aria had learned (from a sobbing Blue Suns operative with only one remaining limb) that the younger woman had blabbed her squad’s mission the first two minutes of her beating. _A complete amateur. I’m surprised the Alliance let her off the Citadel._

Ming didn't answer Aria’s question, and when Aria finally deigned to look at her face, she was satisfied to see that the woman’s eyes were lowered in deference. _Doesn't want to piss me off. Respectful, at least. But also doesn't want to talk. This was a pretty solid little recon squad, aside from the snitch in the cell. Too bad for the Alliance; this squad could have been very useful to them if they hadn't tried to sneak around on my turf._ Aria nodded to Grizz and set off towards Reyes’ cell without a backwards glance. She heard Grizz push the older woman roughly, and then the sound of her shuffling walk.

Just before Aria reached Reyes’ cell, she held up her hand to Grizz for him to stop and hold the prisoner. Then she nodded to Reyes’ guard, who opened the cell, and Aria stepped inside. 

Reyes was seated on a stool at a sterile-looking metal table, his arms stretched in front of him and cuffed in place. His naked torso shone with sweat, and blood from the messy whip cuts on his back trickled down into the waistband of his pants. His head was bowed between his outstretched arms, and Aria could hear him continuing to take deep, even breaths through his nose. Her estimation of him increased further at this display of self-control. 

“Reyes Vidal,” she said, and Reyes lifted his head to look at her. Idly, she observed that he was quite handsome, even with his sweaty face drawn in pain: dark gold skin, unusual bronze eyes, nice lips. Only his boring bog-standard Alliance buzz cut detracted from his attractiveness. Aria was faintly amused that his face was completely expressionless, showing none of the pain he'd expressed through his tedious screaming.

Aria and Reyes stared at each other without speaking for a long, tense moment, until finally Aria raised one eyebrow sardonically. “Who sent you here?” she asked, her voice flat and cool. 

Reyes continued to stare at her, unspeaking. The only sound in the room was his breathing and the soft occasional _drip_ as his sweat hit the floor. 

Aria almost smiled. _Impressive,_ she thought, _but he's just making it harder on himself._ She snapped her fingers. 

Grizz stepped into the cell behind her, dragging Gojevic with him, and flung Gojevic on the floor at Aria’s feet. Gojevic gasped with pain on impact with the floor, then struggled to her knees. Aria kept her eyes fixed on Reyes as she held out a hand to Grizz, and Grizz placed an M-11 Suppressor pistol in her palm. 

Aria felt a cold thrill of satisfaction as this sequence of actions finally elicited a reaction from Reyes. His eyes widened slightly as they darted to Gojevic, then to the gun in Aria’s hand. _Fucking humans,_ Aria thought snidely. _They’re so transparent._ Aria flicked off the safety and pointed the gun at Gojevic’s knee. “Let’s try this again,” she said smoothly. “Who sent you here?” 

Reyes’ gaze flew back to Aria’s face, and she experienced a little thrill: his face was still neutral, but anger was starting to burn in those strange bronze eyes. And yet, he still said nothing. Aria gave a tiny bored shrug and shot Gojevic in the knee. 

The gunshot echoed loudly in the tiny cell, as did Gojevic’s shriek of agony. But Aria continued to watch Reyes’ face. His jaw clenched and he squeezed his eyes shut at the woman’s scream, but still, _still_ , he was silent. _So stoic for a human so young,_ she thought with grudging respect. _That’s something I can use._ Aria slowly crouched down next to Gojevic, who was breathing raggedly on the floor… and pushed her index finger into the bloody bullet hole. 

Gojevic screamed again, and Reyes slammed his cuffed fists on the table, just once. “Fuck!” he burst out. 

Aria removed her finger from the wound and wiped her hand carelessly on Gojevic’s shoulder. She rose slowly to her feet and twirled the Suppressor idly on one finger before levelling it at Gojevic’s head. “Ready to talk yet?”

Reyes looked at her, and Aria couldn’t help the tiny smirk that pulled up one corner of her mouth. His face was practically incandescent with rage, his teeth bared like an animal. _No begging from this one, no pleading, just… rage. That, I can definitely use._

“I have nothing to say to you,” he spat, his Spanish accent thickened with anger. 

Aria shrugged. “Fine,” she said lazily, and Gojevic’s head slammed back as the Suppressor’s bullet hit home. Gojevic’s bleeding skull hit the ground with a sickening thud as Aria turned to Grizz and handed him the pistol. “Take him to Anto. Constant supervision, Level 1 security personnel only. Stitch him up and start orientation in three days.” Grizz nodded, then stepped out of the cell to make the call. 

“Now what?” Reyes said, his voice raw from screaming, but otherwise flat and emotionless. Aria knew what he was really asking: whether she was going to kill him. 

She turned back to face him. “Now you’re stuck with me, little boy. You took the wrong fucking mission.” Over her shoulder, she called out, “Grizz! Send that Alliance girl back to the Citadel on the next ship. I have a message for them.” She turned back to Reyes, and for the first time, she smiled at him. 

“Tell them _nobody_ fucks with Aria.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: To all you Reyesmancers... I'm so sorry for doing this to our man Reyes. Let's hope things look up for him soon...


	3. Errands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes gets forced into training as one of Aria's new thugs... and, to his, own surprise, manages to impress her.

Reyes sat cross-legged on the bunk in his cell, his hands resting loosely in his lap. He was trying to meditate, to allow his thoughts to float uninterrupted across his mind, but he was becoming increasingly antsy. 

Reyes had been locked in this cell for three days. His only company had been brief visits from a rotation of guards who left (surprisingly substantial) meals, and a doctor who’d stitched up his back and slathered him with medigel. None of the guards had seen fit to tell him why he was here, and he’d given up asking after being ignored three meals in a row. All he knew was that he needed to get back to the Citadel as soon as possible. 

But Reyes had a feeling that escaping Omega was going to be a hell of a lot harder than arriving had been. The doctor, a young human named Daniel Abrams, hadn’t told Reyes much, but what he had said had raised some red flags. 

Abrams gingerly examined the lashes on Reyes’ back, then applied a local anesthetic and started stitching. “You’re lucky that I’m here,” Abrams said softly. “These kinds of wounds get infected very easily. Actually, I’m surprised Aria’s willing to put the expense into a house call.” At that point, Anto banged the bars of the cell and told Abrams to shut the fuck up, so Reyes hadn’t been able to ask for any clarification. But it seemed that he was being treated as a resource worth investing in… and that made Reyes deeply uneasy. 

Reyes’ thoughts were interrupted as the door to his cell was pulled open. He looked up in surprise; it wasn’t time for a meal. One of Aria’s batarian guards - Garka, Reyes thought his name was - stepped into the cell and marched towards Reyes with a purposeful stride. _Oh fuck, I do not like the look of this,_ Reyes thought, suddenly on alert. He unfolded his legs, but before he could stand, Garka grabbed him by the back of the neck and flung him to the floor. Reyes stumbled and tried to gain his feet, but Garka’s foot slammed into his abdomen just below his ribs before he could stand. 

The air was punched out of his chest. Reyes fought to suck in a breath, but he saw Garka’s foot coming at him again from the corner of his eye and rolled away from the foot, finally finding his feet and stumbling to a half-standing position. 

Garka swung his fist towards Reyes’ head in an attempted right hook, but Reyes swiftly dodged, then grabbed Garka’s arm and twisted it behind him. He was grimly satisfied to hear the batarian’s surprised grunt of pain as Reyes pulled his arm higher up his back. 

What Aria’s people couldn’t know was that Reyes was extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat with humans and, strangely, krogans. During his Alliance training, he’d ended up in close contact with a krogan mercenary group. One thing had led to another, and a group of Alliance men - including Reyes - had formed a fight club with some of the krogan… and months later, all the human members had come out with myriad bruises and a few shattered bones, but a new set of ingenious and dirty hand-to-hand combat skills. 

Reyes shoved his foot into the crook of Garka’s knee, sending the batarian sprawling to the ground, then slammed his fist towards the base of Garka’s skull - except Garka had dropped flat on his stomach and rolled over onto his back. Garka’s foot slammed into Reyes’ chest, driving him back into the wall. As Garka bent forward and tried to stand, Reyes dropped his head and _slammed_ the crown of his head into Garka’s face. 

Garka reeled back, all four of his eyes streaming tears, and Reyes assumed a semi-crouched position, ready for the next attack. But Garka suddenly gave a pained chuckle… and pulled a pistol from the back of his pants. 

Reyes sighed and dropped his defensive stance. “What the fuck is this?” he demanded. But Garka didn’t explain; he just smiled nastily at Reyes as he edged out of the cell, locking the door behind him. 

Reyes sank to the floor, tenderly massaging his ribs. _I don’t understand this fucking place,_ he thought in frustration. But he got the sense that things were going to get more confusing - and more painful - before they got better.

******************

Unfortunately, Reyes was right. The next day, two of Aria’s guards walked into his cell and promptly attacked him. Reyes tried to hold his own, but definitely came out the worse for wear from being outnumbered in a small space. After about three minutes of scrapping, one of the guards pulled a gun on him, stopping the fight, and they both left. Reyes was getting a seriously bad feeling about the pattern that was starting to develop. 

After the fourth day in a row of being attacked by Aria’s guards, with the third attack being initiated when Reyes was asleep, Reyes decided he needed to change the game. When the guards outside his cell were distracted or otherwise occupied - which was often, since Reyes was clearly not going anywhere - Reyes set to putting a sharp edge on one of his dog tags by grinding it on the concrete floor of his cell. It took several days of patience (and several more attacks in his cell) before the rounded edge came worn to a jagged sharpness, but finally on the eighth day, Reyes was ready. 

On that day, he was set upon by three guards: a human, a turian, and Anto Korragan himself. Unbeknownst to them, Reyes had his dog tag clutched in his fist like a shank, the chain wrapped around his hand for stability, and he managed to slice the human guard’s face within the first five seconds. 

The guard gasped in pain and turned away to clutch his bleeding face, and Reyes ruthlessly went for the man’s exposed neck, but was shoved away by the turian guard. 

“Oh ho, what have we here? A little craftsman!” the turian jeered as he held gripped Reyes by the throat with one hand and reached for the shank with the other. Reyes promptly booted the turian in the abdomen, then immediately went for the human guard again, slashing his hands with the dog tag. The human guard jerked away, screaming curses at Reyes. 

“Hold up!” barked Anto, pulling the inevitable pistol from its holster. Reyes halted, still clutching the shank and breathing hard. “Fair’s fair, you motherfuckers,” he panted. “You get a weapon, I get a weapon.” He couldn’t help but smirk in satisfaction at the human guard’s pained moans as he mopped his bleeding hands with his shirt. 

Anto regarded Reyes thoughtfully for a moment, then holstered his weapon. He jerked his chin at the other two guards and they left the cell, the human guard glaring balefully at Reyes. When Reyes and Anto were alone, he nodded at Reyes - a nod that was almost… polite. “Congratulations,” he said in a flat voice. “You’ll be starting weapons training tomorrow.” Without waiting for a response from Reyes, Anto left the cell, locking it behind himself with a loud clatter.

Reyes stood stunned, his bloody dogtag shank still in hand. Then he yelled after Anto, “Weapons training for what?” 

********************

The next few weeks passed by in a blur of activity and confusion. Reyes was moved from his prison cell to a reasonably clean communal residence that seemed to be populated by Aria’s new recruits, and supervised by Aria’s more experienced fighters. Reyes was shocked when he realized that he was one of the only recruits who was there against his will… and was discombobulated by the similarity of his current sleeping arrangements to a normal military barracks. 

When he’d first arrived, he’d had an immediate surge of hope that the larger and freer environment would mean an opportunity to escape. But Reyes soon realized that Aria’s barracks was just as securely controlled as the prison, without being obviously so. The guards, who doubled as trainers in various skills, were marginally friendlier than in the prison but just as plentiful, and they surveyed all the entrances diligently. 

As Anto had promised, Reyes went into weapons training. A parade of Aria’s people taught him to use, assemble, and disassemble a vast range of firearms, particularly non-Alliance weapons, including illegally modified weapons whose use would definitely get an Alliance soldier suspended. Interested in spite of himself, he eagerly sucked up all the knowledge that Aria’s guards were sharing, justifying it with the reasoning that he’d have valuable weapons intel to pass on to the Alliance once he escaped. 

Anto also ‘suggested’ (i.e. passive-aggressively forced) Reyes to join the other new recruits in a mixed martial arts group, which seemed to be the only form of entertainment in the evenings. Reyes initially hated it. _I’ve had enough beatings to last me for the rest of the month, thanks very fucking much,_ he thought bitterly when Anto first shoved him into the makeshift ring, but he didn’t have much choice. As the evenings wore on and the other recruits kept cheering for Reyes to participate more frequently in the evenings’ fights, he started to get a sneaking suspicion that he was being used as an example of _good_ hand-to-hand human combat - an impression that was reinforced by Anto’s occasional approving nods. 

Before Reyes knew it, a month had gone by, and he was shamefully noticing that entire days would go by where he forgot he was supposed to be trying to escape the station. He now knew all the guards and many of the new recruits by name, and was even occasionally joining in with the banter and jeering during the nightly fight club. Reyes didn’t know how or when it had happened exactly, but he was starting to feel at home. 

In order to remind himself of his purpose, he forced himself to think of his shattered recon squad every night before he fell asleep. He lay in his bunk, breathing calmly and listening to the others’ snores, and forced himself to remember the brutal sounds of his crew being dragged out of the shuttle, the sickening pain of his whipping, and Gojevic’s blank-eyed stare as her bloody head hit the ground… and Aria T’Loak, the woman behind it all, pulling the strings, insidiously lulling him into feeling comfortable on the rancid, luscious bloom of a station that was Omega. 

*******************

“Vidal! Get over here.” 

Reyes looked up from his ramen to see Grizz waiting for him, his arms folded impatiently. He slowly finished the remains of his lunch - anything to piss Grizz off - then stood and ambled over to Grizz’s side. 

Grizz scowled at him. “You’re to speak with Aria now. She'll be pissed that you kept her waiting.” Grizz smirked a little at this, and Reyes felt a twinge of nerves. He hadn't seen Aria since she had murdered his corporal in cold blood. 

Grizz and Reyes made the short walk from the barracks to Afterlife. After spending a full month confined to the barracks, Reyes hungrily drank in the sights of Omega with an enthusiasm he hadn’t had when he’d first arrived. The barracks was located on a lower level of the station past the marketplace, so Reyes was able to gain some enjoyment from the sounds of hawkers selling their wares and the smells of exotic food as Grizz marched him through the market. The marketplace, like the rest of the station, exemplified an unusual juxtaposition of beauty and decay: the glaring neon lights should have looked cheap, but instead gave an air of enticing glamour against the station’s perpetual darkness and shadows. The ultra-modern architecture of the station was clean and perfectly maintained in some areas, and absolutely filthy with decay in others. 

During the day, Afterlife was largely deserted except for a skeleton staff, and eerily quiet as Grizz and Reyes clumped up to Aria’s dais. Today, her entourage consisted of only four guards. _Travelling light today,_ Reyes thought with a hint of irony. 

Aria was tapping intently at her omni-tool, her back to him, and the sight of her profile, half in shadow due to the club’s lighting, gave him an unpleasant flashback to the last time he’d been here. Aria slowly turned and sat on the couch, crossing her legs elegantly… and continued to ignore Reyes as she tapped and swiped at her omni-tool. 

Reyes stood there for three very long minutes, growing increasingly nervous and annoyed, before Aria finally closed her omni-tool display, gave a bored sigh, and looked up at him. 

“Sit,” she said, and Reyes sat on the couch a metre away from her, feeling deeply uneasy but purposely not showing it: he leaned back comfortably on the couch and crossed one leg over his knee. 

Aria pursed her lips slightly - in annoyance or amusement, he couldn’t tell - then spoke, her voice as calm and controlled as ever. “You’re going to start going on errands with Anto and Grizz. Watch them. Learn from them. If you follow and listen well, I might give you some jobs of your own.” 

Reyes was surprised at this abrupt display of semi-trust. He’d had his suspicions that he was being groomed to become more than just a common thug for Aria, but he was surprised that he was considered valuable enough to train under her 2IC. However, it wouldn’t do to show his surprise to Aria. “How much will I be paid for these little errands?” he asked boldly as he stretched his arms out along the back of the couch with feigned casualness. 

Aria stared at him, her eyes cold and flat. “Nothing. But you’ll get to keep your life. Count yourself fortunate.” Her chilling reptilian smile lifted the corners of her lips, and Reyes’ stomach roiled as he unwittingly remembered Gojevic’s vacant, dead stare. 

Aria, apparently finished with him, nodded to Grizz and raised her arm to pull up her omni-tool display. 

“What if I don’t want to run these errands?” Reyes blurted. He hadn’t meant to say it quite that baldly, but he was suddenly angry. Two of his squad had died for this mission, and the third - Kaur, the youngest and least experienced - was probably traumatized for life. Regardless of whether he had - weirdly - started to enjoy his training with Aria’s people, he was an Alliance man, and he had to get back to the Citadel. 

Aria froze, her arm half-raised, and slowly look up at him. The look on her face could not more clearly have said _How Dare You?_ if the words had been painted on her forehead. 

Reyes suddenly choked as his airway closed, the cartilages and muscles of his larynx pulled shut by a tiny mass effect field that Aria generated beside his throat. 

As Reyes fought fruitlessly for air, Aria spoke, her voice hard and her right hand glowing with a network of biotic energy as she controlled the choking mass effect field. “You will run errands for me, or Grizz will throw you out the nearest airlock. Those are your choices.” She closed her hand, and Reyes gasped a desperate breath as the mass effect field dissipated. Aria settled back on the couch, looking complacent as a cat. “Cocky little human like you? There’s no way you’d choose the airlock. I bet you’ll do any number of things to save your pretty neck.” She nodded again at Grizz, and Grizz hauled Reyes up by the arm and dragged him towards the exit. 

As they left, Reyes heard Aria’s cool voice float over from the dais as she called out to him. “Pay attention out there. You might actually learn something.” 

*********************

Early the next morning, a sullen Reyes walked towards one of the more derelict docking bays with Anto. The Talons rented these docks from Aria, but Aria had told Anto that she suspected the Talons of allowing additional ships to dock here incognito, without cutting her a portion of the docking fees and without informing her of the reasons for their arrival on Omega. Anto and Reyes’ task was to snap a small programming chip onto one of the dock cameras so her people could hack the Talons’ surveillance system and track the dock’s activities.

“Why doesn’t she just demand to look at their surveillance footage if she has so much power?” Reyes asked as he and Anto took a lift down to the docks. 

Anto threw him a pitying look. “If Aria keeps on the down-low, she’ll know who the Talons are permitting to land and she’ll be able to find out what their business is here. Then she can deal with them as she sees fit. Information is power, human.” He snorted. “I thought you were a recon officer.” Anto stepped off the lift, leaving Reyes feeling a little dumb.

Ships rarely, if ever, docked at this early time of the day, and the docks were expected to be essentially deserted. Reyes was to play lookout for Anto as Anto put the programming chip in place. “And don’t even think about trying to kill me when my back is turned,” Anto had said yesterday during his briefing with Reyes, his voice world-weary. “I’ve been doing this for years. Aria’s people are _everywhere_ and they’ll fuck you up if you try anything smart.” 

Unfortunately, the docks were not deserted as expected: Reyes counted five Talon guards, distinctive by their red facepaint. The two guards nearest to their target camera were engaged in an intense conversation. _Clearly they have something big planned today,_ Reyes thought as he and Anto watched the guards’ movements from a hidden alleyway.

“Damn it,” Anto muttered. “This was supposed to be a quick operation.” He lifted his arm to call Aria for instructions, but Reyes held up a hand to stop him. 

“Wait,” Reyes said softly. “Let’s watch them for a minute.” Anto gave him a suspicious glance, but the two men remained crouched in their hiding spot, observing the guards for another ten minutes. 

Eventually, Reyes turned to Anto. “The main guard, there - that turian. He’s got a thing for the human woman. And she knows it. See how he keeps deferring to her? ” He gestured surreptitiously to the other guards. “That one is new. Nervous. Easily distracted. And that other turian hates the new guy. Keeps glaring at him.” Reyes dropped his hand and shrugged. “That fifth guard is… well, she’s good at her job. But we can work with four flawed guards.”

Anto eyed him with deepening suspicion. “So what the fuck do you propose?”

Reyes looked at the guards and sighed. _If I’m stuck doing this bullshit, might as well do it right,_ he thought. “I’ll distract them,” he told Anto. “You get the programming chip on the camera.” 

Anto gave him a long, measuring look. Finally he nodded. “Fine. But if you get into trouble, I’m not saving your ass. And if this operation gets fucked up, you’re taking the fall.”

“I’m sure taking a lot of shit for being just the errand boy,” Reyes quipped with amusement… and then immediately felt guilty that he wasn’t more upset about the situation. _Why am I almost enjoying myself?_

Anto gave him an unimpressed look.“You’re an expendable meatsack. Don’t forget that,” Anto said flatly, then nodded in resignation towards the guards. “When you’re ready.” 

Reyes gave a sarcastic salute, eliciting a soft snort of derision from Anto, then slipped further into the alley to approach the guards from the opposite direction in order to draw their attention away from Anto. This would take some creative talking, but if there was one thing Reyes Vidal was good with - aside from his fists - it was words. 

*****************

“... then Vidal just strolls in, starts putting the charm on for the female guard. Turian gets his back up, starts getting territorial. Starts a fight with Vidal. Vidal pulls a knife, the new guard freaks out - complete mayhem. Chip’s in place with nobody the wiser.” Anto finished his report to Aria, his arms folded and his face stern, but Aria knew her 2IC, and she could tell he was grudgingly impressed by Reyes’ performance. 

Aria studied Reyes from her usual seat on the couch in Afterlife. He stood behind Anto, his hands clasped loosely in at-ease position, his eyes lowered modestly… _False modesty, I’m sure,_ Aria thought snidely. _I don’t think this one has a modest bone in his body._ “So. Taking initiative, are you?” she said coolly. 

Reyes lifted his eyes to her face, his expression neutral but his eyes dancing with mischief. “There wasn’t much choice, ma’am. A distraction was needed, and I was the man for the job. The only thing distracting about Anto is his ugly mug.” There was a ripple of laughter from Aria’s guards, and Anto threw him a look of deep disgust, but said nothing. 

Aria lifted her chin and stared coldly at him. _Arrogant little shit. We’ll have to do something about that._ She continued to stare at him until the guards’ laughter died away and Reyes humbly dropped his eyes back to the ground. The silence became heavy with awkward tension until finally Aria shifted position and rested one elbow on the back of the couch casually. 

“Good work,” she said, and Reyes looked up at her in surprise. She gave him a tiny nod. “Get back to the barracks. I’ll have another job for you in a few days.” She pulled up her omni-tool with a dismissive wave, half her mind already on the Talons and hacking their surveillance. She watched Anto and Reyes leave from the corner of her eye.

Privately, Aria was pleased with Reyes’ performance. On his very first little errand, he’d gone above what was expected of him; he'd shown creativity and flexibility, shown that he wasn’t afraid of a fight. However, he'd also shown himself a natural manipulator… and that cocky attitude would _not_ do. She didn't love how he was winning over her guards with his snide sense of humour. _That charm could be very useful, but only under my control. I'll need to beat some of that smugness out of him._ She sent a few messages on her omni-tool, then sat back, her sharp mind skimming over and discarding ideas. Eventually, she smiled - a thin, cold smile - then pulled her omni-tool back up.

_Reyes Vidal needs to be taught a lesson in humility, and I know just the person to do it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Cliffhangers, anyone?? :D I'm so excited to write the next chapter... I love who's going to show up in it!


	4. Humility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes continues to be initiated into Aria's ranks, and gets bested by an unexpected adversary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A lil' bit smutty at the end.

Two more weeks went by, with Reyes accompanying Grizz or Anto on various small errands and operations every day or two. The errands included a vast range of tasks, from collecting Aria’s payments at various drop points, to buying (or stealing) resources that Aria needed, to simply idling around in various places on Omega and observing the goings-on. Reyes was very familiar with the latter task, as it was natural for him as an intel officer; one could easily hear all kinds of interesting information from unwitting passersby who didn’t censor their own conversations. 

Reyes was also starting to gain an appreciation for just how extensive Aria’s network of agents was. Anto hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d said Aria’s people were everywhere. She seemed to have employees of varying levels of security clearance in every location and every industry on Omega, except in the main gangs: the Blue Suns, the Blood Pack, Eclipse, and the Talons. When Reyes had expressed surprise at this, Anto had shrugged. “She allows them to keep their business private for the most part, as long as they give her a cut. Her ‘trust’ helps to keep them agreeable.” 

In spite of himself, Reyes’ respect for Aria’s leadership was starting to grow. As an experienced and successful intel officer, he’d considered himself quite good at his job, but everything he knew about obtaining information and intel was, well, _legal_. As he continued to shadow Grizz and Anto, it became abundantly clear that if one was willing and ready to bend and break the law, one’s ethics, and a few fingers, one could learn almost anything. Aria’s intelligence network bribed, blackmailed, charmed, hacked, traded, and tortured to gain information. Reyes had to concede that information really was the foundation of her reign over Omega, and the pirate queen used every fact she learned to her full advantage. Reyes was unable to morally accept her methods, but objectively, he had to admit that she was incredibly effective. 

On the days when Reyes wasn’t doing jobs with Aria’s men, he was kept busy in the barracks: he learned more about various illicit weapons, sparred with recruits of various species, and was instructed by Garka about the general layout of the station and which areas were governed by which of Omega’s gangs. 

Reyes also participated in group meditation classes every other day. When he’d first arrived in the barracks, he’d been extremely weirded out by the fact that Aria had her people learning meditation techniques, but quickly had understood why: he’d unconsciously used them himself to withstand her torture. He’d joined in the classes as a refresher - and, he told himself, so he could be stronger if he ever had to suffer a beating at her hands again. _After all, if I’m going to escape this place, I’ll probably be taking hits again sooner or later._

As the days passed into weeks without Aria summoning Reyes again, his mental image of her started to mutate from a simple enemy into something of a mythology. Grizz had let slip at some point that she’d started on Omega as a dancer in Afterlife, and this tantalizing thought, combined with Reyes’ memory of her bondage-style bodysuit, were frankly hot; but her power and self-possession were chillingly cold. She never seemed to be anywhere but at Afterlife, but her influence over the station was omnipresent. And when Reyes realized that he was the only new recruit who was being trained directly by Aria’s two most trusted men, his feelings of conflict deepened: she seemed to be pouring resources into him, and yet she had tortured him, coldly choked him for insolence, and murdered his corporal with the clinical efficiency of long practice. 

_What is her game? She’s got all these recruits, some of whom would lick her boots if she so much as looked at them… so why me?_

*************************

Aria sat at the wall of monitors in her office, reading the reports about the Talons’ dock activities. It looked like the Talons had taken a large contract with some group named Cerberus. This in itself didn’t bother her; the Talons owned certain properties and were free to do what they wanted with them as long as they paid Aria her due. But it was overtly suspicious that this Cerberus group was being permitted to land their shuttles without paying through Aria… and without Aria knowing what the shuttles contained. 

Aria drummed her fingers on her desk, her lips pursed into a thin line. As a rule, she didn’t like sending spies directly into the ranks of Omega’s gangs. She had nothing against spying and deception, but keeping the gangs happy required a delicate balance of control and leniency that Aria was loathe to tip by being heavy-handed with spies. Finally, she sighed and sent an order for the hackers to continue surveying the Talons docks. She would keep a close eye on the Talons’ activity in that sector in order to gain further information before acting.

Aria briefly flicked through her accounts, making sure that all the scheduled payments from the gangs had come in on time, and that payments for smuggled goods and information had been provided as agreed. While she sifted quickly through paperwork, her mind returned to the thought of Reyes and his little intel squad. It still bothered her that she didn’t know who exactly from the Citadel had sent them to Omega, as she needed to know if she should be putting her people on alert for a further Alliance threat. Aria didn’t think the Alliance would be attacking again, since it had now been more than a month since she had sent that snivelling Kaur girl back to the Citadel, and no further Alliance shuttles had landed on her station. But the whole incident - and the Blue Suns’ boldness in attacking the Alliance shuttle on _her_ docks - still bothered her, like an itch she couldn’t quite scratch. 

_The gangs are starting to get bold these days,_ she thought with a frown. _The Blue Suns should be under control for a while now, with a third of their people dead. But the Talons never required that much attention before… Not enough of a threat. All the more reason to keep monitoring them._

Suddenly, her omni-tool vibrated with a message. She checked the message, then chuckled throatily. _Excellent, he’s back on the station,_ she thought, then pulled up her omni-tool and called Anto. “Send Reyes on that mission we talked about. Tomorrow.” Anto grunted an affirmative then hung up. 

Satisfied, Aria stood from her chair and raised her arms above her head, stretching and twisting her spine slowly like a cat. She smiled maliciously to herself as she imagined how Reyes’ little mission tomorrow would play out. _The handsome little bastard is going to learn a nice lesson about humility. If he’s lucky, he’ll get to keep his looks… and his limbs._

*****************

Reyes sat on a stained chair in the medical clinic waiting area, breathing shallowly through his mouth so as not to inhale the smell of his own vomit. This was his first independent mission, and he had decided to be amused by the fact that it required him to barf on himself. It was either that or be pissed, and getting mad hadn’t gotten him anywhere yet during his time under Aria’s thumb.

Anto had sent him to this clinic with the goal of obtaining a list of all the patients who had been treated over the past month. Anto had said he didn’t care how Reyes did it as long as it was done quietly. When Reyes had asked why Aria needed a list of patient names, Anto had succinctly told him to mind his own fucking business. Reyes had decided that presenting himself as a sick person requiring treatment would be the best way to gain access to clinic resources, but he couldn’t quite remember the stroke of genius that had led him to think that taking an emetic would be the best idea. It hadn’t helped that the barracks’ mess hall had served a fairly disgusting stew for lunch that Reyes thought might have contained bits of vorcha.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Reyes vomited a second time (this time, the vomit was more genuine - he had never been able to tolerate the smell of sick) and was hastily led into a private examination room. When the salarian nurse left the room, Reyes quickly scanned the room - no cameras - and slipped over to the room’s medical terminal. With one eye on the door, he pulled up his omni-tool display and began to hack the terminal with the code that one of Aria’s people had transferred to him. He tapped his foot nervously, glancing at the door, then looked back at his omni-tool- 

_BANG._ The sound of a gunshot reached Reyes’ ears a half-second after a red-hot poker of agony seared his right palm. 

Reyes’ vision went black for a second and his gorge rose in nausea at the sudden intensity of the pain. He tucked his bleeding right hand to his chest and instinctively dropped to a crouch, twisting on the balls of his feet and reaching for his gun with his left hand- 

“Wouldn’t recommend that. Will kill you if necessary.” 

Reyes froze and slowly raised his left hand, then lifted his eyes to his assailant: an elderly salarian dressed in doctor’s garb, with incongruous facial scars and half of his right horn missing. The salarian doctor’s Carnifex was aimed straight at Reyes’ head, and his facial expression was one of clinical curiosity. 

Still pointing the Carnifex at Reyes, the salarian spoke again. “Unfamiliar human. New to Omega; obvious from amateur attempt to hack medical records. New Eclipse agent? No no, too clumsy, Eclipse operatives more careful. Weapon.” He held out his hand to Reyes. 

Reyes gaped at the salarian, stunned by the river of speech that had just spilled from his mouth, then realized that the doctor was asking for his weapon. Reyes silently reached into the back of his pants and handed over his gun. 

The doctor examined the gun briefly, his Carnifex still aimed expertly at Reyes’ face. “Batarian made. Illegally modified. Expensive.” He glanced again at Reyes, his gaze more intense. “Must be from Aria’s crew. But why try to hack medical records? Must be amateur mistake; maybe miscommunication. Aria knows medical records are confidential. Wouldn’t try to cross me.” 

Reyes finally found his tongue. “You know Aria?”

The salarian blinked and gave Reyes an odd look. “Must not have been here long. Everyone knows Aria. I know her better than most. Friends for many years.” He held up Reyes’ weapon. “Batarians are approximately 30% of Aria’s crew. Expensive mods on this gun. Only Aria can waste credits giving valuable weapons to inexperienced staff.” He nodded to Reyes as he said the last phrase, making Reyes pout slightly. 

Then Reyes finally thought to ask the obvious question. “Who are you?”

The doctor studied Reyes for a moment more, then holstered his Carnifex efficiently. He gestured impatiently for Reyes to stand. “Professor Mordin Solus. Attending physician at this clinic. Why are you here?”

Reyes stood, still cradling his right arm gingerly. His hand was bleeding freely, adding to the disgusting mess of bodily fluids on his clothing. Dr. Solus briskly took hold of his arm, making Reyes gasp with pain, then started scanning Reyes’ hand carefully with his omni-tool. 

Reyes stammered a reply. “Aria sent me… I… maybe I shouldn’t tell you…?” He was feeling decidedly wrong-footed. The pain and blood loss were extremely preoccupying, and Dr. Solus’ manner - his quick, efficient analyses and his fast talking, his rapid switch from assault to healing - were unlike anything Reyes had ever encountered. He was genuinely nonplussed. 

Dr. Solus finished scanning his hand. “Bullet was through and through. Painful, but clean. Should heal quickly with proper treatment: medigel and microsurgery for damaged bone and nerves. Expensive, but Aria can afford.” The doctor gave him a pitying look. “Will likely come out of your wages.” 

“I don’t get paid for these jobs,” Reyes mumbled resentfully as the doctor ushered him over to a microsurgery robot. 

Dr. Solus made a small huffing noise that might have been a laugh. “Unfortunate. Must be very new recruit.” He briskly positioned Reyes’ hand in the machine, then looked at Reyes with a small smile. “Aria likely playing some kind of game.” He tapped on the machine’s interface, then nodded to Reyes. “Microsurgery will take one hour. Will return to apply medigel and bandage.” Without another word, he turned and left Reyes sitting at the machine with his confused thoughts.

An hour and a half later, Reyes’ hand was still tender but tidily bandaged, and he was being ushered shamefacedly to the clinic’s door by Dr. Solus. “Keep bandage dry for 24 hours. Then remove bandage, do these exercises daily for two weeks. Prevents muscle scarring, maintains flexibility and range of motion.” He briskly sent the exercise instructions to Reyes’ omni-tool. “Bill will be sent directly to Aria. Send her my regards.” With a final brusque nod and a small smile, Mordin Solus turned on his heel and strode back into the clinic, humming quietly to himself. 

Reyes slowly trudged back towards Afterlife, his shame and confusion slowly sharpening into anger. _So Aria’s playing some kind of game at my expense, is she?_ As his anger simmered into a boiling rage, his pace sped up until he practically speed-walked into Afterlife. He stormed up to Aria’s dais, ignoring the six guards who immediately pulled guns on him. “You set me up. What was the fuck was the point of that?” he shouted.

Aria looked up from her omni-tool, a look of satisfied amusement on her face. “You met Mordin, did you? I like him.” She glanced briefly at his bandaged right hand. “You’re lucky he just shot your hand. I’ve never met a salarian with a steadier shot.” She smirked, her eyes already back on her omni-tool. “Remember this moment, Vidal. You might think you’re clever, sneaky, and charming… But you’ve got nothing on me. I’m not just the ruler of Omega.” She lifted her eyes back to his, and her eyes were flat, snakelike, and cold. “I _am_ Omega.” 

The blood was pumping in Reyes’ ears as his rage propelled him forward. He stopped short when Garka’s gun touched his temple. 

“Step the fuck down, Vidal,” the batarian growled, but Aria held up a hand, prompting Garka to lower his weapon slightly. She crossed her arms as she stared at him, her facial expression a picture of annoyed boredom, which only enraged Reyes further. 

“I’ve only put up with this shit because I need to get the fuck off this station,” he railed. “You do know that the more I learn about your operations, the more information I’ll have to take back to the Alliance, right? Because I _will_ escape this station sooner or later. I _will_ go back to the Citadel. So if your plan is just to humiliate me, you might as well kill me now and get it over with. That’s what you’re good at, isn’t it? Killing people in cold blood.” He glared at her, his chest heaving with emotion. 

Aria stared at him for a long moment, her facial expression unchanging. Then slowly, luxuriously, she rose from the couch and stepped into his personal space until they were standing nose to nose. 

It was an obvious ploy to physically intimidate him, but embarrassingly effective: Reyes unconsciously stepped back, expecting her to choke him again with another mass effect field. But when Aria spoke, her voice was soft and menacing, like a viper about to strike. “You’re wondering why I’m training you. But what you should really be wondering is why you’re so devoted to your precious Alliance. After all, they’ve left you here to rot for almost two months.” She tilted her head at him. “Haven’t you wondered why no one has come to rescue you? Either the Alliance doesn’t give a fuck about you… or they’re scared to cross me.” 

She stepped even closer, and Reyes couldn’t help but take another step back. To his shock, she grabbed his chin with a strong grip and forced him to look at her. “Now, you think about it. Who would you rather side with: the Alliance, too cowardly to come back for their noble intel officer and avenge their murdered squad… or the most powerful woman - no, the most powerful _person_ \- in the Terminus Systems?” Her gaze slowly slid from his face down his body, and perversely, despite his anger, he felt a stirring of heat in his belly. 

Then she abruptly released his chin. “Think about it. Carefully. Garka will see you out.” Without another word, she brushed carelessly past him and strolled away towards the elevators. 

Reyes watched the rolling of her hips as she walked away from him, her don’t-give-a-fuck attitude so obvious that it was almost tangible. His mind roiled with confusion. Part of his brain was screaming at him to ignore her, that her words were designed to manipulate… but the other part of his brain, the part that had been neglected by his uncaring parents, that had grown up alone and largely friendless, felt the sting of truth in her words. _Maybe I haven’t been trying hard enough to get back to the Alliance… but they haven’t tried to come for me either._

Garka prodded him in the back with his pistol. “Come on, Vidal, let’s go.” 

Reyes nodded meekly, all his anger burnt out and replaced with confusion and angst, and followed Garka out of Afterlife. _God, I wish I could have a whiskey. I wonder if anyone in the barracks has any moonshine…_

*******************

Aria stepped into her private chambers and shucked off her jacket, then bent over to pull off her boots, her mind thrumming with smug satisfaction. _That could not have gone better if I had called Mordin and told him what I was planning,_ she thought, permitting herself a rare grin. 

Reyes had played into her little trap perfectly. _It’s so easy to manipulate humans. They’re so predictable when they’re angry._ All that remained now was to see whether Reyes would decide to fall in line with her, or whether he would try to take the virtuous-Alliance-boy route. She was fairly sure he would join her, thereby paying off the time and credits she was investing in training him up, but if not, she was prepared to kill him. 

Aria would never admit it, but she was hopeful that he would fall in line. It had been a long time since she’d met anyone as intelligent and naturally manipulative as Reyes. Anto, unfailingly faithful though he was, was a sycophant with limited imagination. If Reyes proved as capable as she suspected he was, she might actually have a lackey who could share some of the brainpower of her operations. 

Aria unstrapped the buckles on her bodysuit and smirked as she remembered his angry outburst. It had almost been endearing. She knew he’d been expecting her to injure him again for his insolence… which is why she had purposely used the gentle approach of attacking him with pointed words instead. _Unsettle him, make him forget his anger, make him think. I’ll have my answer by tomorrow._

Aria peeled off her bodysuit with a smooth motion of long practice, leaving it crumpled in a pile on the floor near her bed. She stepped into the shower, thinking idly of Reyes’ smug face, then of his anger, then of his meek submission when she’d stepped dominantly into his space. As the cool sheets of water sluiced over her body, she idly thought of how she’d choked him with a mass effect field… and her mind conjured a tantalizing image of her slender hands squeezing his throat while his naked body bucked beneath her on her black satin sheets. 

A wave of heat washed over her, contrasting with the cool water of the shower, and Aria slowly skimmed her hand over her breast and then slowly down her belly towards her sex. She firmly stroked her feminine lips, enjoying the slippery moisture as she imagined clawing long nail marks down Reyes’ naked chest. 

Her breath caught as she gently slid her finger between her labia, delving into her heat, then rubbed circles around her swollen clit. Her imagination drifted to an image of Reyes strapped to the torture table, naked to the waist, his back crisscrossed with welts from a leather whip, and she leaned her head back against the wall of the shower rapturously, the cool water and her arousal bringing her nipples to attention. Her breaths came sharp and short as she rubbed her clit more firmly. Then, as she fantasized about Reyes chained by the neck to the pole in her bedroom, forced to service her with his tongue, her orgasm ripped through her body, sending waves of pleasure from the juncture of her thighs to the tips of her fingers and toes. 

Aria gasped as the aftershocks of her orgasm abated, then leaned languorously against the wall of the shower and stretched her arms, revelling in the chilly waves of water that trickled in rivulets over her body. Aria didn’t make a habit of sleeping with her employees; it made them either uselessly clingy or chauvinistically cocky, which sometimes necessitated beating them or even killing them to show them who was boss. But in Reyes’ case, Aria wondered if she could make an exception. He was a smart man, able to control his emotions under the right conditions - unlikely to become clingy or territorial. And from a selfish perspective, Aria suspected that he would be pliable during sex… and Aria was nothing if not ruthlessly demanding in the bedroom. 

Aria briskly washed herself, then stepped out of the shower, all signs of self-indulgence gone as she quickly dressed in a clean bodysuit and prepared for Afterlife’s usual evening activities. After all, a pirate queen’s work was never done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mordiiiin! <3 I miss him so much. Anyone else a fan of the very model of a scientist salarian?


	5. Criminals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria introduces Reyes to a new job on Omega: smuggling. Reyes also has a run-in with a formidable vigilante.

A small foot, encased in a black leather with a stiletto heel, stepped towards the pole that spanned from floor to ceiling. 

Her other foot stepped forward, the motion setting a swing to the curve of her hips and drawing his attention to the tantalizing bare strip of purple skin at her hip where the practicality of her bodysuit melted into sexy straps that wrapped up the sides of her waist. 

She reached for the pole and slowly wrapped her right hand around its diameter, making him think of her fingers wrapping around his shaft. She placed her right foot delicately at the base of the pole, then threw him an uncharacteristically coquettish look over her shoulder as she slowly and sensually slid her left leg up along the length of the right, making him imagine the feeling of his hand smoothing up the inside of her thigh. Once her left knee was bent, she held the pole tightly, arched her back - her full breasts jutting forward proudly - and leaned her weight away from the pole, slowly spinning around it in a sensual, teasing circle. 

As she spun, she slid closer to the floor until she landed gently on her knees, legs spread, drawing his attention to the juncture of her thighs. She arched her back and let her head fall back, then traced the fingers of her left hand slowly from her neck down along the line of her cleavage, and then torturously slowly down her flat belly towards her groin. She threw him a heated glance - the only look of warmth he'd ever seen on her cold, controlled face - then released the pole and began to crawl towards him, her ass upthrust, teasing him with ideas of grabbing her willing hips from behind. 

When she reached his seated form, she stood slowly… then grabbed his throat brutally, her eyes suddenly glowing with biotic energy, her face masked in that cold reptilian grin. He choked, terror replacing his lust, as her hand began to glow with biotic power. 

“Rise and shine, assholes!” The door to the dorm banged open unceremoniously with the guard’s usual morning wake-up call. Reyes woke with a start, his eyes flying open with relief - _thank fuck, just a dream_ \- then realized with horror that his hand was clutching his hard cock under his thin blanket. Embarrassed, he released his shaft and inconspicuously adjusted himself before sliding out of his bunk and grabbing his towel. 

Reyes felt exhausted as he listlessly scrubbed shampoo over his short buzzed hair. He'd hardly slept last night; his brain had been spinning over Aria’s words and his own thoughts all night. He'd tried to use meditative breathing to calm his mind and to remind himself of his purpose, but thinking of his squad wasn't as effective as it had been two months ago, and Aria’s poisonous words about the Alliance had infiltrated his brain. He'd been trying to block it, to remain a calm and loyal soldier, but the truth was that he was angry at the Alliance: for not preparing them better for this shitshow on Omega, and for not caring about what had happened to him. 

But Aria was hardly a better bet. _She doesn't give a shit about me. Still don't know why she chose me, but I do know everything she does is for her own benefit. She's a consummately greedy woman. But what choice do I have?_ Aria was right about one thing: his sense of self-preservation ran very deep. Reyes had always had to take care of himself since there had never been anyone else who truly cared about his wellbeing. _So really,_ he thought, _this is no different than any other major decision I've made in my life. Just me on my own._ The thought was depressing as hell. 

Reyes was distracted all day. He fidgeted throughout the morning meditation, drawing a surprised and disapproving look from the asari instructor. He tried to attach a krogan flamethrower mod to a Phalanx pistol, earning himself a smack upside the head from the krogan arms master. During the evening mixed martial arts club, Garka managed to uppercut him for the first time ever, painfully slamming Reyes’ teeth shut on the edge of his tongue. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor of the ring and gave a good-sportsman’s grin to the gloating batarian, but internally he raged at himself for his carelessness. He’d never been a man who was easily flustered by uncertainties; his watchful, levelheaded calm had always been the thing that had set him apart in the Alliance. But Aria’s words, and her contradictory behaviour towards him, threw him off his game more than he cared to admit. 

The whole day went by with Reyes both dreading and anticipating Aria’s summons. He finally dropped into his bunk at 01:15, having heard nothing from Aria, Anto or Grizz all day. But half an hour later, as he stared up at the ceiling, his eyes burning with tiredness but unable to sleep, the dorm door flew open, letting in a stream of light that made some of the other recruits groan and curse. 

It was Anto. “Vidal. Come to Afterlife. Now.” 

Reyes rose, his heart thumping with anxiety, then pulled on a basic long-sleeved black shirt and boots and followed Anto to the club.

As usual at this hour, the party at Afterlife was in full swing, with revellers dancing drunkenly to the loud and sensual beat of electronica, and asari and human dancers twisting lithely around the poles behind the bar. The noise and activity only served to fray Reyes’ stretched nerves. He followed Anto up to Aria’s dais and found the pirate queen seated on her favourite couch, her legs elegantly crossed and one arm dangling carelessly along the back of the couch, looking supremely bored. 

Out of habit, he assumed an at-ease position and did his best to corral his face into a neutral expression. It was easier to do when he had Aria’s resting bitch face to mirror. 

She looked up at him, a slight curiosity mitigating the boredom on her face. “So. Are you staying? Or do I need to throw you out the airlock so you can join your corporal?” 

Reyes felt a surge of anger at her taunt, followed by a wave of desolation. He had no logical choice but to stay, and Aria knew it, but at least he could try and keep his dignity. He raised his chin and met her eye respectfully. “I've considered your offer, and I'd like to stay.” _There,_ he thought, _polite, obedient, but not pandering. I refuse to become another craven asslicker under her boots._

Aria gazed at him for a moment longer, her pale blue eyes glinting with satisfaction. Then she waved to the couch. “Sit.” 

Reyes sat hesitantly, fighting to control his face and his feelings of defeat as Aria continued to watch him. Then, with a tiny smirk, she said, “Congratulations.” She raised her hand and made a small come-hither gesture.

Reyes looked up in surprise as an asari waitress approached him with a tray… and presented him with a large tumbler containing three fingers of aged Terran Macallan. He stared in shock at Aria, who was tapping at her omni-tool. _How does she know my drink?_

Before he could say anything, Aria threw him a knowing look. “Nothing escapes my notice on this station, Reyes.” She nodded at the glass. “Enjoy. Your first drink as one of Omega’s official agents. You're still on probation; Anto will keep a close eye on you, but you're one of my men now. Go celebrate with the others.” She returned her attention to her omni-tool. “I recommend the asari dancers. They’re worth every credit.” 

Reyes blushed as the memory of his dream forced itself into his mind, and felt violently grateful for the dim lighting in the club. He nodded wordlessly and stood, trying to smile gamely as Garka slapped him on the back and shoved him cheerfully towards the bar. He paused as Aria called out to him, and he couldn’t decide whether her words were encouraging or foreboding. 

“In time, you’ll be glad you stayed.”

********************

In the end, Reyes ended up drinking way too much in an attempt to quell the confusion and guilt in his gut. He pounded shots with Garka, Cassian, an asari guard named Emari, and a rotating parade of Aria’s other guards and station visitors until the glamorous lights in Afterlife became a blur. He had vague memories of Garka and Cassian hauling him out of Afterlife, and they must have helped him get safely back to the barracks, because it was now 08:00 and Grizz was barking at him to get his ass out of bed and get to Afterlife: Aria wanted to talk to him again. 

Reyes dragged himself to Afterlife, his head throbbing in time with his heartbeat. He clumped up to her dais, nodding politely to her four guards, then felt mildly offended by the fact that Aria looked fresh as a daisy and powerful as ever, even though he was sure she had been up as late as him, if not later. 

Her hint of relaxed amusement from the previous night was gone; she was her usual cold, controlled, businesslike self as she turned to look him and bluntly delivered his orders. “You need to learn about smuggling. This port is known for helping clients obtain whatever they need, at whatever price, without being detected. You’ve been instructed in the general layout of the station; Garka has seen to that. You’ll observe some of the smuggling operations on the station. Learn how they operate, how they stay under the radar when they leave this system. Anto will tell you where to go. Report back to me in a month and we’ll see what you’ve learned.” She didn’t wait for his response before sidestepping him, taking a datapad from an asari assistant and scanning it as she descended the dais and began to walk away. 

“Why me?” The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them, but he really did want to know. _Why keep me here? Why not just kill me? And why does she keep entrusting me with more detailed information about her operations? Why trust me at all?_

Aria turned back to him, datapad still in hand, and looked at him like he was the stupidest person she’d ever met. “You’re smart. You’re creative. You’re also apparently charming, if Anto is to be believed. Smugglers have all these skills.” She swiped at the datapad and threw him another you’re-an-idiot look, making him feel stupider by the second. “I didn’t take you for the humble type, Reyes. I don’t need another common thug on my staff. A smuggler, I can use. Now get the fuck out of here and go learn something. Don’t waste my time with stupid questions.” She tapped the datapad decisively, tossed it carelessly back at the asari assistant, and strode away, her four guards following her like ducklings. 

Reyes gaped at her, dumbstruck both by her unprecedented compliments and by how fucking _formidable_ she was. He’d never met anyone like her before. She was intelligent, well-connected, scared of nothing and impressed by nobody, sexy as hell… and she seemed to have some kind of faith in his abilities, some kind of sense that he could be _more_ than just a soldier. 

He rubbed his face roughly, desperately confused. Above everything, Aria was a crime lord and a stone-cold murderer. So why was he starting to feel grateful to her for taking him on?

Anto suddenly appeared at his shoulder. “Let’s go. You’ve got some people to meet.” 

Reyes nodded and followed him out, determined to shake off his confusion and to fulfill his new task, now that his fate seemed to be sealed. After all, he already knew the consequences of disappointing the pirate queen of Omega. 

************************

Aria sat at the desk in her office, the wall of monitors playing patterns of light over her face as she reviewed Anto’s reports about Reyes’ activities. Reyes had picked up the ropes of smuggling more quickly than she’d even imagined. Within two weeks of starting to shadow the other smugglers, he’d actually started a new small smuggling operation involving - of all the weird things - snack foods, including some human shit called popcorn. Aria had actually laughed when she’d read Anto’s report about Reyes meeting with the Eclipse weapons smugglers: he’d somehow managed to increase their profit margin by a whopping 2% in the space of less than a month. _I bet that bitch Jona Sederis had a fit,_ Aria thought to herself with amusement. 

She put down the datapad and stood, glancing at the monitor that showed her dais in Afterlife. Reyes was waiting for her, chatting with Garka, looking more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. _He’s getting comfortable, finally. Anyone can get used to anything given enough time,_ she thought to herself with a cold satisfaction. Reyes’ adjustment to life on Omega was going exactly as Aria had hoped, but even she hadn’t anticipated how quickly he’d pick up the ropes of smuggling or that he’d actually increase her overall profits by upping Eclipse’s efficiency. Aria was… almost impressed by him. And it had been a long time since anyone had made an impression on Aria T’Loak. _I might even be able to make him start training the other recruits soon,_ she thought as she took the elevator to the main club. 

Aria strolled to her dais, four guards and Anto falling in line behind her. She seated herself and nodded to the couch, indicating for Reyes to sit. “You've done well these past few weeks. I appreciate the influx of credits from your little stint with Eclipse.” 

Reyes raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise at her praise, and she gave him a chiding look. “I can give credit where credit is due, Reyes. Speaking of credits, you've earned your keep. I’ll set you up with a salary starting today. You'll get a bonus as well - I'll take it directly from Jona Sederis’ weekly deposit.” 

Reyes gave a little smirk. “She wasn't too happy to have one of your men hanging around. I thought she was going to tear my head off when I suggested that change to her transportation arrangements.” 

Aria gave a nasty little laugh. “She's imagined herself a rival to me for decades. I’d have liked to see her face.” She settled back more comfortably, casually propping one ankle on the opposite knee. “It seems you have a bit of a gift for smuggling. From now on, you're to act as a consultant for anyone who comes to me looking for advice or help with their smuggling activities. But we’ll keep your identity quiet; communicate only through encrypted channels, face-to-face only when absolutely necessary. That way there won't be any petty jealousies, and we’ll be better able to subtly control the flow of goods on and off the station. Is this clear?” 

Reyes nodded, his face businesslike. Then he frowned slightly. “This sounds like a big job. Who was doing it before I got here?” 

Aria looked at him frankly. “I was.” She raised an eyebrow at his surprised expression, but declined to share further details. After all, details about Aria T’Loak were the most privileged information of all. 

“Remember that this position, like all things in my operations, is based on merit,” she added sharply. “Don't get lazy or greedy, and we’ll get along fine.” She didn't need to add what the consequences of failing her would be; he'd already had a taste of that. 

Reyes nodded respectfully. “Ma’am.” He stood and left; he was used to her usual signal of dismissal by now - namely, her losing interest in his presence. 

Aria took a datapad containing the most recent reports on the Talon’s dock activities from an assistant and starting reading it, but soon became aware of a crawling sensation of being watched. She looked up to catch Anto’s eyes on her. He quickly dropped his gaze, but this only served to further attract notice.

“What?” she snapped, continuing to scroll through her report. “Speak up, Anto.” 

Anto tentatively stepped closer to her seat on the couch. “Can we talk privately?” he muttered. 

Aria pursed her lips in annoyance and put the datapad aside, waving a dismissive hand at the guards, who scattered to other parts of the club. She tilted her head up at Anto. “Yes?”

He looked distinctly ill at ease - a combination of nervous and resentful. “It's… about Vidal. Should we be more cautious about giving him unlimited information about the smuggling networks? He's good,” Anto admitted grudgingly, “but he’s still new to the ranks. Still has that shiny Alliance attitude.” 

Aria smirked at Anto and picked up the datapad. “Anto, I'm surprised. This jealousy is unlike you.” 

Anto spluttered indignantly. “I'm not-! It's… Aria, I don't trust him. I don't think you should either.” 

Aria looked up at Anto, and he recoiled slightly at her expression. “I _don't_ trust him. I'm counting on _you_ and your best men to keep him in line. He needs more time and a few more pointed lessons before he can do anything unsupervised,” Aria said. “Now, are you satisfied, or do you want to keep telling me how to do my job?” 

Anto stepped back, his eyes lowered. “No, that's all. I… Sorry, Aria.” He looked so embarrassed that for once, Aria took pity on him. She rolled her eyes and sighed. “I appreciate the concern, Anto. Now get the fuck out of here and get to work.” Anto nodded briskly, grateful for Aria’s version of what passed for thanks, and left the club. 

Aria sat back on the couch, picking up the neglected datapad as she idly watched her guards drift back into place around her dais. But her mind was on Reyes. _A talented smuggler, indeed._ His sharp mind and quick networking reminded her of a less brutal version of herself when she’d first arrived on Omega. But he was still dancing on the pale grey side of Omega’s criminal activity, and Aria knew his Alliance sensibilities would reject anything more extreme at this time. Aria would let him get comfortable, more accustomed to Omega’s underbelly… then she would drag him into the dark side with her. And that’s when he would _truly_ be useful. 

********************

Reyes strolled through the market, humming quietly to himself as he nodded affably to the late-night food merchants and smiled politely at the few residents who were lurking around at this hour. Most of the residents gave him looks of disgust or ignored him, but this was all for the good. Reyes had decided that his naive-doofus persona would be the best option both for blending in and for being ignored during his time on Omega, especially if Aria wanted him to remain in the shadows in his role as smuggling consultant. His face would become familiar on the station; there was no avoiding that. But it would be to his benefit, and Aria’s, if everyone who knew him in passing underestimated him and thought of him as being empty between the ears. 

As it turned out, Reyes was feeling unusually cheerful. He’d gotten his first transfer of credits from Aria today, and the first thing he’d done was go to the market and buy a bottle of whiskey. Nothing fancy - didn’t want to attract attention after all - but the Macallan that Aria had bought him the previous week had only whetted his appetite, and he was looking forward to the smooth burn of a good drink once he returned to the barracks. 

Reyes passed the food stalls, inhaling the scent of ramen broth and Thessian fish stew, and headed towards the south docking bay. It was almost 02:45, and Anto had ordered him to help unload a new shipment of guns before the station’s more legitimate businesses woke up. 

Reyes descended the stairs that led towards the slums and eventually out to the docking bay. He ignored the usual miasma of piss and vorcha that hung in the air and the usual scattering of vagrants huddled in the corners. But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the human vagrants slowly rising to a standing position… and for some reason, the movement made the hairs on his neck stand on end. 

Without changing his casual stride, Reyes continued through the passage that opened out into the docks. He whistled cheerfully to himself and quickly flicked the safety off of his pistol, his senses on the alert for further signs of danger. Adrenaline began to pump in his body as he distinguished the sounds of at least two distinct footsteps following him down the corridor. _I’ll wait until I’m in the open to confront them - more space to avoid ricochet fire, and hopefully there’ll be some cover._ Finally, as he reached the docking bay, he turned, then jumped in feigned surprise when he laid eyes on his stalkers: two humans and an asari, all dressed in Eclipse gear. Reyes raised his hands, maintaining his homegrown-idiot act despite the fact that the mercs likely knew who he was. “Hey guys, what’s going on?” 

“Jona Sederis sends her regards,” sneered the asari. “She doesn’t appreciate your interfering in Eclipse matters.” She raised her fist, a ball of biotic energy expanding in her fist. 

Reyes gave an internal sigh as he crouched defensively, reaching for his pistol… and flinched in shock as the asari’s head snapped back, a spurt of purple blood spraying from her forehead from a single shot to the head. 

Reyes whipped around, genuinely startled now, trying to determine which direction the shot had come from. A second shot rang out, and one of the humans dropped from a second clean headshot. His heart thudding, Reyes thought for a second and decided to stick to his bumbling-idiot act, rather than running or pulling his own weapon. It seemed he had a saviour, and if his saviour thought he was an innocent civilian, he didn’t want to disabuse that notion. 

Reyes dropped to a fetal ball, his hands covering his head in feigned terror, but was embarrassed that he didn’t have to feign the shaking of his hands. _Don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the all the casual fucking killing on this station,_ he thought in resignation. 

The remaining human merc snarled and pulled out a heavy pistol, spinning on the spot. “Show yourself, you fucking coward!” the merc yelled, brandishing his pistol like a cowboy. He whipped around and saw Reyes curled on the ground, and this only seemed to make him madder. “You fake piece of shit,” the merc spat at Reyes, pointing the pistol at him. “Acting so innocent-” 

_BLAM._ The third and final shot rang out right on cue, and the human merc fell forward almost on top of Reyes, who scrambled backwards out of the way. _Jesus, that was a close one,_ Reyes thought with violent relief as he stood shakily, but he wasn’t in the clear yet. He probably could have handled the three mercs by himself, though it would have been a close shave with them all being armed; but the person who had ‘saved’ him - clearly a sniper, from the precision of the shots and the fact that they had not yet revealed themselves - introduced a new and totally unknown element of danger.

_There._ At the upper level ringing the docks, Reyes caught a hint of movement. A figure stood - a male turian, from the distinctive crest. He slung a Black Widow sniper rifle smoothly over his back, then made his way towards the stairs that led down to the docks level as he spoke. “Walking around Omega’s deserted docks at this hour is a good way to get yourself killed.” 

Despite the turian’s blunt words, his polyphonic voice sounded kinder than the average turian’s… and unusually kind for Omega. _He’s not a local either,_ Reyes thought as he smiled and replied. “Yeah, I’ve only been here a couple months - still don’t know where I’m going half the time. Don’t know how to thank you - I’d be dead if you hadn’t…” He trailed off and swallowed, realizing with a delay that the abrupt deaths of the three mercs had genuinely thrown him. Smuggling, hacking and collecting intel was one thing; Reyes had adjusted to these tasks quickly and naturally, as they only involved a small stretch from his natural talents. But so many deaths… 

The turian drew near, and Reyes took a deep breath, examining his saviour curiously to distract himself from his delayed reaction to the stress of the situation. The turian sniper sported blue clan paint over his malar carapace and a distinctive, minimalist visor over his left eye - _probably helps with aiming,_ Reyes thought with interest. 

The turian looked him over suspiciously. “Are you hurt?”

Reyes shook his head, fighting to maintain his naive persona, but his hands were trembling. He shoved them in his pockets. “I’m good, thanks. Really. I… that happened so fast.” Reyes ran one hand over his slightly grown-out buzz cut in agitation. 

The turian continued to study him, a frankly mistrustful look on his face. “I’ve seen you with Aria T’Loak’s people. You’re falling into a bad crowd there. Maybe I should take you out as well.” 

_Fuck. Me,_ Reyes thought, with a surge of anxiety. _Should have known I wouldn’t get off that easily. Time for some smooth talking._ Reyes blurted out the first plausible story he could think of. “I’m with the Alliance. I… I came here on a mission, but everything went wrong. Aria kept me as a prisoner and now I’m working for her… I didn’t know what else to do.” 

With a shock of confusion, Reyes realized he’d just blurted out the truth to this stranger. _But I meant to tell a convincing lie… Why does my own life sound like a story that had happened to someone else?_

The turian sniper eyed him with open suspicion, then gave a small nod, apparently seeing the genuine distress in Reyes’ manner. “Get off this station if you know what’s good for you.” The turian stared intently at him, and there was a gleam of hardness in his eyes. “If I catch you involved in any criminal activity, I won’t be so lenient next time. Now go.” 

Reyes nodded emphatically. “Yeah, I’ll try and get out of here. Thanks again, I really…” But his turian saviour was already walking away purposefully. As the turian disappeared into the shadows, Reyes swallowed, then realized he was a solid half hour late for meeting Anto. _Can’t stay here now though,_ he thought, and re-entered the passage, intending to go back to the barracks. As he walked, he called Anto on his omni-tool.

Anto answered almost immediately. “What the fuck was that?” he hissed. “I’m here on the docks. I hid when I heard the shots. How the fuck did you get out of that alive?”

“Some fancy talking,” Reyes replied, as relief finally began to wash over him, making him feel giddy. He laughed, hearing the note of hysteria in his own voice. “Fanciest fucking talking of my life. Who even _was_ that guy?”

Anto grunted. “We’ve been getting reports about him, but this was the first time I’ve seen him. You’re lucky you’re not dead, Vidal. You just talked your way out of being sniped by Archangel.”

************************

Aria gave a little huff of disdain. “Archangel. Yes, I’ve heard about him. Vigilantes pop up on Omega sometimes. I’ve never had to deal with one directly; crime is a way of life here, so vigilantes don’t last long. Their bodies usually end up in the slums in days - weeks if they’re lucky.” She glanced uninterestedly at Reyes. “He’s unlikely to be around for much longer. Besides, it’s primarily the gangs he’s been targeting. As long as they keep paying their dues, he’s their problem, not mine.” She swiped and tapped at her omni-tool as she spoke, acknowledging reports and confirming directives. 

Reyes nodded, but he still felt unsettled by the whole incident. Anto had sent him to Afterlife to report in before returning to the barracks, and Aria’s lack of anger or concern about Archangel threw him off. 

_Nothing about this evening has ended up being what I expected,_ he thought. He was still shaken by the sudden deaths of the mercs, and he couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that vigilante justice was a common occurrence on Omega worthy only of slight annoyance. But most of all, he was unsettled by his own changing narrative. He’d told his real story to Archangel as though it was someone else’s story he was telling. He’d felt no emotional connection to the truth he’d spoken. _I’ve been here so long, I can’t pretend it’s against my will anymore. I’ve been enjoying it… enjoying the challenge of surviving on Omega. What the fuck kind of person does that make me?_

He took a long swig from his bottle of whiskey, and Aria threw him a sidelong glance. “Ease up, Reyes. Limit your drinking when you’re on the job. You’re on my time still.” She grabbed the bottle from his hand and gave it to a nearby asari waitress without lifting her eyes from her omni-tool.

“This place is poisonous,” he muttered to himself, rubbing his face and then his hair in agitation. The dark glamour of Omega was sucking him in; he was getting used to becoming a criminal. _Oh fuck, I’m a criminal,_ he realized, his head spinning with guilt and alcohol. He wasn’t sure how he’d denied this fact for so long, but there it was. He’d managed to avoid any heinous crimes so far, had done nothing involving directly injuring anyone, but he was getting a terrible feeling that Aria had been taking it easy on him. 

Aria slowly looked up at him, giving him her full attention for the first time that day. Her face was stern, her ice-blue eyes were serious, and she was the most poisonous thing on Omega. She was like a venomous flower, beautiful enough to attract attention, powerful enough to attract admiration, but lethal at a glance… and so, _so_ cold. Somehow in the past few weeks, as Reyes had started to spend more time dealing with her directly, she’d seemed to loosen up a little bit and he’d actually managed to forget that she was a murderer. But her casual reaction to the mercs’ deaths had reminded him in full force. She was a monster who casually disregarded others’ pain, and he’d somehow _forgotten_. 

Aria spoke, and her voice was deadly serious. “I’m not interested in your fucking existential crisis. There is no ‘good side’ to Omega. You knew this from day one, and you are still here. So go home and sleep while you can. I need your mind sharp. You have work to do, and you’ll be here at 09:00 on the dot.” The _or else_ was implied as Aria looked daggers at him one more time and pulled up her omni-tool in dismissal. 

Reyes dragged himself off the couch and headed dejectedly for the barracks. It wasn’t until he was exhaustedly pulling his blankets over his head that he realized she’d said to _go home_... and he’d come straight to the barracks without thinking twice about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: OMFG Archangel!!!! So this chapter was hard for me to write because I am hopelessly in love with both Garrus and Reyes… but the Garrus that Shepard knows and loves is so different from the Archangel who metes out justice on Omega. It was so hard to keep Garrus short and curt. Maybe this means I need to try my hand at some Shakarian fic…
> 
> Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoyed this cameo! Now back to our regularly scheduled program of Reyes Reyes Reyes. ;)


	6. Murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes has become comfortable as a smuggling expert on Kadara... but Aria has decided it's time to push him out of his comfort zone. 
> 
> TW: Graphic depictions of violence and torture.

**A few weeks later…**

“Reyes. You’re coming on a mission with me. We’re hitting the Talons dock. Meet me and Grizz at Afterlife at 13:30. Wear light armour and bring a heavy loadout.” Aria ended the call without waiting for his affirmative. Reyes felt a leap of apprehension in his gut; this was the first time he’d ever be accompanying Aria on an operation. In fact, it would be the first time he would see her outside of her usual spot in Afterlife. 

Reyes had become so used to seeing her at her club, cool and statuesque in her position of power, that it was hard for him to imagine her doing something as gritty as combat… and if he was honest, he was curious to see her in action. _I bet she sends me and Grizz in to take point while she throws biotic blasts from afar,_ he thought ruefully. _Light armour my ass. I’ll probably need more than that._

When he got to Afterlife, lightly armoured and carrying a helmet, two pistols and an assault rifle, he was surprised to find Aria wearing her usual outfit and carrying only an M-11 Suppressor: the same pistol, Reyes realized with a jolt, that she’d used to kill Gojevic. “Perfectly on time. Such a good little soldier,” she greeted him with a fierce grin. 

Reyes smiled uncertainly. He’d never seen her in such a good mood and wasn’t sure how to react to a joke - almost a flirt? - from Aria T’Loak. Luckily, she didn’t care about his response; she waved to Grizz and strode purposefully for the door, Reyes and Grizz trotting after her. 

“What’s our goal here?” Reyes asked as he and Grizz caught up to Aria. 

“To teach them a lesson,” Aria replied shortly as she strode through the market towards the docks. Reyes looked around nervously as the locals parted before her, a buzz of speculative whispers following her path. With her Suppressor prominently displayed on the curve of her hip and her unhesitating stride, Reyes could hardly blame them. He also couldn’t ignore the flush of heat in his groin as he watched her confident walk: the pistol only drew his attention to the sexy sway of her hips and those infernal peeks of bare skin around her waist. The fact that she was unarmoured and physically vulnerable, yet totally fearless, made his heart thump with attraction… and then guilt at being attracted to her. Reyes felt ashamed as he took a quick deep breath in through his nose and tried to focus on the task at hand instead of his humming libido.

“Uh, can I… get more details on what that means exactly?” Reyes panted as he jogged to keep up. Grizz answered his question. “Aria kept surveillance on the Talons dock since the day you and Anto planted that chip. We know who has been renting from their warehouses, but we want to know more about exactly what they’re doing there, and why they’re trying to hide it from Aria. We’ll distract the Talons with a direct attack. While we’re there, you and I need to scan around the warehouses for information - discreetly. We don’t want the Talons to think we’re interfering too much.”

“And a direct attack on their docks won’t be seen as interfering too much?” Reyes asked, unable to completely keep the incredulity from his voice.

Aria glanced at him, her eyes as cold as marbles. “No. It won’t. This is what they earn when they don’t play by my rules. I took out a third of the Blue Suns’ force on the day you arrived for trying to hide their interference with your shuttle from me.” They arrived at the lift leading down to the docks, and Aria tapped at her omni-tool to override its security. “And these are not _their_ docks. They’re _my_ docks. The Talons seem to have forgotten that.” 

Aria stepped into the lift, followed closely by Grizz and Reyes. She folded her arms and stared at Reyes. “You’re about to see what happens when somebody tries to cross me. Consider this a learning opportunity.”

_She took out a full third of the Blue Suns…? Oh, motherfucker. I really don’t like the sound of this,_ Reyes thought with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He could practically feel the cortisol surging through his body as his anxiety levels started to rise. The last few weeks had passed by uneventfully, with Reyes primarily working as Aria’s smuggling consultant and also doing various errands with Anto and the other guards. He’d gotten into something of a routine and was saving his wages to move to an apartment outside of the barracks, like Aria’s more experienced guards did. And along the way, he’d started to really enjoy his smuggling job. 

As guilty as it made him feel, Reyes had a growing feeling that smuggling was his calling. It seemed to combine his personality and skills in a natural way that he would never have realized if he hadn’t come to Omega. But in his enjoyment of his new ‘job’, he’d also somehow managed, yet again, to push away his knowledge of Omega’s darkest side: the turf wars, the murders, assassinations, tortures, the batarians’ slave trade… and now it seemed he was about to get a big wake-up call.

The lift doors opened, and Aria wasted no time. She strode out of the lift onto the docks, not caring whether Reyes and Grizz were close behind. A smattering of Talons guards guarded the docks, looking casual; clearly they were not expecting Aria’s arrival. 

Reyes dashed out of the lift, swiftly looking from side to side for obvious flanking enemies, then turned back just in time to see Aria lift her hands, a sparking network of biotic energy building around them. She _shoves_ her hands forward, delivering a devastating biotic blast that slammed away every object and person within a 10-metre radius. 

Multiple Talon guards went flying. One guard was crushed by a shipping crate that slammed down on his pelvis, and another’s arm was dislocated as she smashed into a support pillar. Reyes realized his mouth was hanging open and snapped it shut, smoothly pulling his assault rifle from his back and shooting a Talon guard who was running towards him, pistol drawn. He snapped his mind into Alliance military mode, his eyes scanning his periphery and his gun raised to fire at all threats. He and Grizz worked as team, taking out Talons guards on opposite sides of the docks to protect each other’s six. And yet, Reyes’ attention kept sliding back to Aria.

He’d been totally mistaken about what her style of combat would be. He’d thought she would be cool, calm, and collected like she always was in Afterlife. But in combat, she was a chaotic whirlwind of violence. She plowed straight into the fray, never hiding behind cover, and simply used her biotics to deflect projectiles. Reyes watched with increasing awe - and horror - as she grabbed a turian by the neck, her hand glowing with biotic power, and _crushed_ his skull - crest and all - before spinning and flinging his body at an unsuspecting human guard. As the human tried to crawl out from under the dead turian, Aria pulled out her Suppressor and carelessly shot the human in the forehead. She then spun and threw a singularity that pulled three Talons into its mass effect field. Slowly, Aria walked up to the singularity, her Suppressor dangling loosely from her hand, then shot each helpless guard precisely in the abdomen. 

Reyes felt as though the air was being punched out of his own stomach at this cruel sight. If those guards didn’t get medical attention quickly, they would die slowly and extremely painfully.

As the singularity dissipated, dropping the three guards supine on the ground, Aria stepped up to the nearest of the guards - a male turian - and rested her foot on the turian’s belly, right over his bullet wound. “Who is in charge here today?” she asked, her voice cool. 

The turian gave a moan of pain in reply, and Aria pressed her foot down slowly. The turian cried out in agony, a sound that made Reyes’ hair stand on end. “Who the _fuck_ is in charge?” Aria repeated, her voice hardening. 

The turian groaned in pain and coughed, a gobbet of blue blood burbling from his lips as he choked out a reply. “Bryll… he’s a turian… green… eyes… dark grey... faceplates.” 

Aria turned to Grizz and Reyes. “Find this Bryll,” she barked, then the Suppressor barked as she shot the turian in the face, silencing his choking coughs. 

Reyes fought his rising nausea as he and Grizz turned to obey. “Remember, check for any intel,” Grizz muttered to Reyes as he passed him. 

Reyes nodded tightly, swallowing hard. He and Grizz started checking the guards, both dead and alive, for the group’s leader. As Reyes rolled bodies over and ignored gurgled pleas for help and curses of death, his berated himself. _This was an unprecedented attack. They did nothing to deserve this level of brutality. What the fuck would the Alliance say if they could see you now?_

None of the guards he checked fit the dead Talon’s description. Reyes moved towards a shipping container that had one door hanging askew and peeked inside. A distinctly turian figure was crouched in one corner of the container, which was otherwise empty. Reyes dipped his gun briefly in view of the open door, just enough so that the movement would catch the turian’s attention. 

As expected, a shot rang out as the turian tried to shoot at the moving gun. _He’s alert and he’s got a functional gun,_ Reyes thought briskly, locking down his emotions at this renewed danger. He checked his gun quickly and prepared to enter the container and incapacitate the hidden figure- 

Suddenly the doors of the shipping container flew off with a burst of blue light. Reyes flung himself prone to avoid the flying metal, then stood shakily as Aria stepped into the container. She raised a hand and a web of biotic energy encircled the figure in the container, immobilizing him. 

Aria approached him at a lazy, slow pace. She examined the turian quickly. “Bryll, I presume?”

“Fuck you, asari bitch,” the turian spat. 

Aria laughed with lazy amusement. “That I am,” she said, her voice cold and amused. “Unfortunately for you.” She turned to Reyes. “Call Grizz. This idiot is coming with us.” 

Reyes nodded and left to find Grizz, momentarily relieved that she wasn’t going to immediately kill Bryll. Grizz and Reyes returned quickly, and Aria turned to them as she finished a call on her omni-tool, ignoring Bryll in his biotic prison. “Grizz, tase this fucker and bind him. A flitter is on its way. You stay here and check the shipping containers and warehouses for information. Reyes is coming with me.” 

Grizz nodded briskly and followed her instructions. As the unconscious turian hit the ground, Aria exited the shipping container and Reyes followed her, the sick feeling in his stomach returning. They stopped in the middle of the docks and waited for the flitter to arrive. Aria folded her arms and waited, silent and still, her face a picture of boredom, but Reyes couldn’t settle. His eyes kept drifting back to the three guards that Aria had shot in the belly. The two surviving guards were breathing laboriously and coughing up blood; one of them was crying, an ugly broken sound that made Reyes’ chest swell with a combination of disgust and painful empathy. As he and Aria stood silently, the sound of the suffering guards continued to grate at him until he couldn’t take it anymore. Without looking at Aria - mostly because he knew she would not approve - he approached the guards and slowly pulled his Carnifex from its holster. 

He drew close to the two surviving guards - a human woman and a female turian - and aimed his gun at the forehead of the turian. His hand was trembling, and he took a deep breath to still it. _This is for mercy. It’s not really murder,_ he told himself, but he wasn’t completely convinced by his own internal voice. 

Very quietly, he murmured to the turian, “I’m sorry.” Then he pulled the trigger, silencing her choking breaths. He then turned his gun on the human woman, and with a shock, he recognized her as the female guard from his very first errand with Anto… the female guard he’d flirted with to distract the other guards from Anto’s placement of the programming chip. 

His breath stalled in his chest as she recognized him in the same instant. Her brown eyes widened and she bared her lips in a feral expression as she glared up at him. “You… fucking… snake,” she choked out, a bubble of spit and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. 

“I know,” he rasped, his mouth dry as a bone, a rising lump of sorrow and self-disgust in his throat. “I’m sorry.” He bit his lip and shot her in the forehead. 

The sudden silence made his ears ring. Reyes holstered the Carnifex and pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes, rubbing fiercely to stop the sudden burn of tears that threatened to fall. He breathed deeply through his nose, forcing himself to focus on the turbulent sound of his own breathing. After seven breaths, he’d swallowed the lump in his throat, forced back his tears, and calmed himself enough to compose his face into a neutral expression before turning back to rejoin Aria. 

Her face was as neutral as his when he approached her. He kept his eyes focused deferentially on the ground as he came to stand beside her. To his surprise, she said nothing; she was quiet for so long that he finally risked a glance at her. 

She was watching him, her gaze speculative and cold. Finally she spoke, and her voice was surprisingly gentle… deceptively gentle. “Never show mercy. It makes you look weak.” She pursed her lips, and her intense gaze on his face made him drop his eyes back to the ground. 

A few moments later, the flitter settled into place in front of them. Two of Aria’s men hopped out of the back and went to fetch Bryll as Aria and Reyes boarded the flitter. 

She settled into her seat and lounged back lazily, resting the ankle of one leg on her other knee. “Better continue your meditation. This mission isn’t over yet.” 

Reyes said nothing, his head lowered in submission. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised that the worst was yet to come. 

************************

The flitter settled on the roof of Afterlife, and Aria gracefully stepped out and headed for the stairwell that led to the top floor. Reyes followed her, his heart as heavy as his footsteps as she traipsed down the stairs and hit the button for the elevator that led down to the main club. They were both silent as the elevator carried them down to the main level of Afterlife, then to the club’s lower level… then down to the sub-basement, where the holding cells - the torture cells - were located. 

Reyes broke into a cold sweat at the memory of his last time here, and took a deep breath through his nose to control the sudden unconditioned surge of fear. Aria must have heard his intake of breath, because she threw him an impatient look. “Relax,” she said. “You’ll be on the other side of the table this time.” 

_What?_ he thought with sudden horror, but the elevator doors opened and Aria strode out. He followed, his sense of dread growing as she walked to a holding cell identical in layout to the one in which he’d been tortured: a sterile-looking metal table with chains, a stool, and a metal table containing a set of diabolical-looking instruments that made Reyes’ stomach churn. 

Reyes hesitated at the door, and Aria frowned impatiently at him. “Get in.” 

He slowly stepped into the cell, clenching his fists to stop his hands from shaking. Aria’s arms were folded, her weight shifted to one lush hip, and her casual stance contrasted starkly with her blunt words. “You’re going to learn the art of torture. I’ve shielded you from this to let you get adjusted. But no more. Your little mercy killings showed that you’ve been coddled long enough.” 

Reyes swallowed, unable to speak. His heart was racing and his palms were clammy with sweat. He wasn’t entirely sure that he wasn’t having a panic attack. 

Aria suddenly grabbed his chin in a strong grip and forced him to look at her face. Bronze eyes met ice-blue as she stared at him, her face unsmiling and intense, but surprisingly free of anger. “You withstood torture on your first day here. You’ll use those same skills to ignore the victim’s pain.” She released his chin and folded her arms again, still gazing at him sternly. “I took you on because there’s a renegade inside of you. Don’t be a pussy, Reyes. Use it.” 

Reyes took another deep breath in through his nose. _In, two, three, four, and hold… out, two, three, four._ Aria’s words were cold and brutal, but her tone felt oddly reassuring. He took three more deep breaths, forcing himself to observe, acknowledge, and then let go of his panicked thoughts. After the fourth breath, he looked at Aria again, and she gave a tiny nod of approval at his improved composure.

Reyes then heard the sound of the sub-basement’s door sliding open. Moments later, Aria’s men from the flitter appeared, with Bryll firmly corralled between them. Reyes continued to concentrate calmly on his breathing as they shoved Bryll down on the stool and shackled his arms to the table, then his legs to the floor.

Aria nodded a dismissal, and the two men left the cell. Aria slowly approached Bryll, her arms still folded across her chest. She didn’t speak, simply stared at Bryll as she gradually drew close to him. Reyes knew from experience how effective her wordless stare could be as an intimidation technique, and sure enough, Bryll burst into babbling; defiant babbling, but babbling nonetheless. 

“You’ll get nothing outta me, asari bitch. You think you can break me? Forget it. I’ll tell you nothing. Do your worst.” He spat at her feet, a gobbet of saliva mixed with blue blood. 

Aria slowly smiled at Bryll - her trademark reptilian smile - and Reyes could have sworn that the skin around Bryll’s eyes went pale. Aria spoke, and her words sent a chill over Reyes’ body. “I don’t want information from you.” 

“Then… then what the fuck is your game, bitch? Why do you have me here?” Bryll shouted, pulling fruitlessly at the chains around his wrists. Aria continued to smile coldly at him, unspeaking, then lifted one hand and opened her palm towards Bryll’s face. 

A tiny mass effect field - much too familiar to Reyes - appeared beside Bryll’s throat and Bryll rasped, then fell silent, his mouth gaping like a fish out of water as he tried to pull in a breath that wouldn’t come. Reyes realized he was holding his breath in empathy, and forced himself to inhale then exhale slowly. Then Aria spoke to Reyes, her bored gaze studying Bryll. “You’ve seen how effective this can be,” she told him in a bland, clinical voice, without even a hint of a taunt about the time she had used the same technique on him. “Useful for getting people to shut the fuck up. Or to induce panic, which can make them talk. Unfortunately, not something you can do.” She closed her palm and Bryll gasped painfully as the mass effect field disappeared.

Ignoring Bryll, Aria looked at Reyes and nodded at the metal table of torture implements. “Give me the hammer and a nail.” 

Reyes obeyed her, breathing deeply - _in, two, three, four_ \- and handed over the items she’d requested. 

She ignored the slight tremble of his fingers as she took the items. “This technique is useful with any species who has fingernail analogs… including turians.” Quickly and efficiently, before Bryll could even protest, Aria jammed the pointed end of the nail under the talon of his thumb claw and slammed the hammer into the head of the nail. 

Bryll shrieked, the sound doubling and then tripling as it echoed through the sub-basement. “Open your eyes,” Aria snapped, and Reyes realized she was speaking to him: he’d squeezed his eyes shut instinctively. He forced himself to look at Bryll’s hand, at the oozing puddle of blue leaking around his talon and onto the table. Reyes swallowed down his nausea. _Out, two, three, four._

“Get another nail. You’ll do the next one,” Aria said, her voice still neutral. 

_Mother. Fucking. Fuck,_ Reyes thought. This was what he’d been truly dreading. Slowly, he took another nail from the table and approached Bryll, who was sobbing. “Don’t,” he gasped at Reyes, and Reyes couldn’t control the wince that crossed his face. 

Aria stood back to let him closer. “The faster you do it, the easier it will be for you,” she advised briskly. Reyes bit his lips and nodded tightly. 

“No - no, wait - don’t listen to her!” the turian begged, but Reyes took another breath - _in, two, three, four_ \- and quickly placed the nail under talon of Bryll’s index claw, then hit it with the hammer. 

Bryll cried out, then cursed a stream of vitriol at Reyes. Aria spoke over his yells, her voice calm and cool. “Hit it harder than that, or else it won’t be painful enough to make an impact.” She waved carelessly at Bryll. “Look at him - he’s just angry now. Hit the nail again.”

Reyes swallowed effortfully, forced himself to exhale quickly, then _slammed_ the nail with the hammer. This time, Bryll screamed shrilly, and Aria nodded with satisfaction. “Good. Now, breaking limbs. Also a useful technique across species... aside from hanar, of course. But that’s another lesson.” She smirked very slightly, and Reyes had a sudden, horrible urge to laugh - _how the fuck can she joke at a time like this?_ \- followed by a wave of self-disgust: _Oh, wait, that’s what I do. I’m such an asshole._

Aria held her hand out, all traces of amusement gone, from her face, and Reyes placed the hammer in her palm. “If you break a turian’s foot, they can’t balance. He’ll be hobbled. Potentially for life, depending on how messy the break is.” Without further notice, she gracefully dropped to one knee and _slammed_ the hammer into the middle of Bryll’s foot, over the metatarsals. 

Reyes wasn’t sure which sound was worse: Bryll’s scream of pain, or the wet popping sound of his main metatarsal bone breaking. _Out, two, three, four._

Bryll was begging now. “Stop, please, stop, let me go - I’ll tell you whatever you want, just let me go, let me go -”

“Shut the fuck up or I’ll choke you again,” Aria said coldly, and Bryll trailed off into muted sobbing. The torture continued, with Aria pointing out and then demonstrating weak points on the turian body: carapace plates that could be pried away painfully; soft areas of skin or flesh susceptible to lacerations or burns; organs that could be non-critically pierced. 

After what seemed to Reyes to be an interminable duration of time, Aria stepped back from Bryll, her hands bloody, and dropped a long twisted implement that reminded Reyes unpleasantly of a corkscrew. “I’ll finish this now,” she told him, and though her voice and facial expression were cold and clinical, he couldn’t help but notice that her lips were flushed a darker purple than they usually were, and her pupils were large and dark, almost obscuring her ice-blue irises. Bryll was limp by this time, his head on the table, his breathing laboured; Reyes was frankly surprised that he hadn’t gone into shock. 

Aria stepped close to the turian and shoved his head back so he held upright on the stool only by the restraints around his wrists. Aria then turned to look at Reyes. “Now. I invented the technique I’m about to show you. Obviously not useful if you want your victim to talk.” She grabbed Bryll’s mutilated crest and shook him roughly until he opened his eyes and looked at her. 

“Pl- please…” he rasped pitifully. 

Aria continued as though Bryll hadn’t spoken. “But if you’re just trying to send a message… such as, ‘don’t fuck with Aria,’ this is extremely effective.” Aria grabbed Bryll’s mandible plates in each hand then forcibly pried the plates away from his face, her hands glowing biotic blue, until they broke with a sickening _crack_. 

The agonized howl that Bryll let out was so animalistic that Reyes finally succumbed to his rising nausea and doubled over, his stomach heaving, and vomited all over the floor. 

Aria stepped past Reyes, ignoring Bryll’s ongoing screams and sobbing, and waved an impatient hand at the same two guards from the flitter. “Get him out of here. Drop him in Talons territory. Anywhere will do.” The two men stepped into the cell and unchained Bryll, then dragged him out of the cell. 

Reyes gasped, cold sweat soaking his face and his short hair, and spat the taste of sick onto the floor, then breathed deeply again as Bryll’s croaking sobs echoed through the corridor. _Out, two, three, four._

Reyes slowly stood up straight and wiped his sweaty forehead on his forearm. He breathed deeply and composed his face into as neutral an expression as he could manage, then forced himself to meet Aria’s eyes. 

Her pupils were still dilated, but otherwise she looked like her usual, elegantly cold self, despite the turian blood oxidizing to black on her hands. She gazed at him in an assessing manner, the corner of her lips turned up slightly in an expression of mild approval. Then she stepped close to him - intimately close. 

Reyes forced himself to stand still and not step away from her approach. “You did well,” she said, her voice its usual neutral, controlled tone, but Reyes roiled with confusion at her physical closeness. She was so close he could see the specks of dark grey in her pale blue irises. 

“You’ll do this again, with every species on Omega, to learn the best ways to extract information. Continue your meditation exercises. They’ll help you.” She then stunned him further by reaching up and briskly wiping away a fleck of vomit from his chin with her thumb. 

_Aria, please, no._ The words echoed in Reyes’ mind, at the tip of his tongue, but he pressed his lips shut and forced himself not to say them. He knew without a doubt that if he begged for her mercy at this moment, she would kill him. 

He took one more breath - _in, two, three, four_ \- and said the only thing he could say: “Yes, ma’am.”

Aria’s eyes flared with satisfaction. Then she brushed past him briskly towards the exit. “Get out of here. I’ll expect you at 09:00 tomorrow as usual.” The doors opened then closed with a soft whisking noise, and Reyes was alone. 

Reyes wanted to drop to the floor, scream, sob, punch the walls, punch himself. But he forced himself to stand still. He knew Aria had surveillance on every cell, and he refused to cave in to the self-disgust, sorrow, and horror churning through his blood. If he was going to survive this godforsaken place, he had to be stronger. He had to be a renegade. Much as he hated to say so, he had to listen to Aria. 

So Reyes stood still and breathed. _in, two, three, four, hold._ He observed his thoughts - _You’re a murderer. You’re a torturer. You enabled a sadistic monster_ \- and acknowledged them, then let them float by. _Out, two, three, four._ He stood there for time uncounted. Then, when his facial muscles were relaxed and his stomach was no longer cramping, he brushed his hand over his short hair and stepped purposefully out of the cell, then out of the sub-basement, and returned to the barracks. 

_In, two, three, four, hold…_

***************************

Aria stood at the wall of monitors in her office, watching Reyes as he stood in the holding cell. She was waiting for him to crack, to crumple into a useless ball of pity at the cruelty she’d forced on him, but to her growing satisfaction and respect, he remained on his feet, his fists clenched, still as a statue. After three minutes of no movement, Aria allowed a small smile to light her face as she sat slowly in her desk chair and slung her legs comfortably over one arm of the chair. 

Five minutes went by, then ten, and still Reyes stood breathing quietly, the tension in his face slowly dissolving and his hands slowly unclenching. A full eighteen minutes later, Reyes raised his face - it was relaxed and calm - then brushed his hand over that awful grown-out buzz cut and strolled casually out of the cell, looking as though he’d done nothing more strenuous than walk to the Omega Market for a box of Blast-O’s. 

Aria kicked her feet slightly and laughed out loud. _I’ve got myself a fucking jack of all trades. Smuggler, errand boy, soldier, torturer… There’s nothing this boy won’t do._ She stood from the chair and headed up to her private quarters to wash off the turian’s blood. 

Torture always gave her a thrill; she would openly admit to getting a sexual charge from others’ pain. But watching Reyes inflict pain… Aria gave a tiny shiver as a thrill of heat surged over her body at the thought of him smashing that nail under Bryll’s talon. _If he could do that without flinching… oh, yes._

Aria quickly stripped off her clothes, eager for a cold shower and the feel of her fingers on her body. She knew now without a doubt that she’d get Reyes Vidal into bed. _As soon as he’s properly desensitized to pain, I’ll fuck his brains out,_ she thought. It was just a matter of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I felt sick while writing this chapter, seriously. I hope I haven't scared any readers away with the horrible things Reyes was forced to do. Let me know what you guys think!


	7. Intel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes has finally earned Aria's trust... and something else from Aria that he didn't expect. 
> 
> NSFW. Smut alert! ;)

**Four months later…**

“You can end this anytime. Personally, I'd prefer to end it now. It’s getting boring.” Reyes leaned casually against the wall of the cell, his arms folded and one ankle crossed over the other, his face picture of cold disinterest. “Just tell me who sent you to that drop point and you're free to go.” 

The young man cuffed to the table - hardly older than a teenager - stared at Reyes in abject terror, his shirt soaked down the chest with sweat. His right hand lay shaking on the table, a small puddle of blood under it; Reyes had used a small, razor-sharp knife to slice fine cuts into the skin between his thumb and index finger, and index finger and third finger. A very simple torture technique, but crudely effective, particularly from a psychological standpoint: forcing people to watch those tender, often-ignored parts of the body get mutilated could be more effective at loosening tongues than the actual mutilation itself. The boy stammered a reply. “She told me not to tell anyone! She made me swear, she - she said if I told anyone, she’d kill me!” 

Reyes pushed lazily away from the wall and slowly approached the boy, idly twirling the knife between his fingers. The boy stared at the knife, transfixed with fear. When Reyes spoke, his voice was hard and cold. “So you’re saying you don't think I will kill you.” 

Before the boy could speak, Reyes’ hand flashed out lightning-fast and sliced a shallow cut into the boy’s neck, right over the thyroid cartilage - nowhere near deep enough to pierce the airway, but deep enough to bleed profusely and to cause pain - and, most importantly, terror. The boy gasped and burst into sobs. 

Reyes spoke loudly over the boy’s sobbing. “You stole from Aria T’Loak. Somebody is going to die. Either it can be you, or you can tell me who told you where to find that drop point and somebody else can die.” He stepped back from the table and yawned. “Your choice. But pick quickly. I can make the choice for you if you'd like.” 

“No, please - it was…” The boy sobbed unabashedly, then gulped. “It was Jaya… she’s a human, with brown hair-” 

“I know who she is,” Reyes interrupted coldly. He pulled up his omni-tool and sent a quick message to Emari, then turned back to the boy. “Thank you for your help.” Reyes approached the table of torture implements and put the small knife down, and heard the boy’s slight exhale of relief… then the boy started screaming and pleading anew as Reyes lifted a cleaver. 

“Wait, wait, you said you'd let me go! I told you the truth! _Please!_ ” 

“Stop talking,” Reyes said softly, and the menace in his voice stunned the boy into silence, though he couldn't stop the sobs erupting from his chest. Reyes stepped near to the boy, the cleaver held loosely in his hand. “I understand you're new to Omega. So let me give you some advice.” Without hesitation, Reyes grabbed the boy’s right hand and brought the cleaver down on his fingers. The boy shrieked as the first knuckles of his fingers parted company with the rest of his hand in a rush of blood. 

“Don't fuck with Aria.” 

***************

Aria watched Reyes’ torture session unfold at the wall of monitors in her office, her arms folded, her body thrumming with satisfaction… and sexual heat. _No hesitation, no facial expression… He’s as good as Cassian. Maybe better._ As the squalling thief was unshackled from the table and dragged out of the sub-basement by two of Aria’s people, Reyes wiped his bloody hands on a towel then dropped the towel carelessly on the floor, his face showing no reaction to the thief’s screams and sobs. 

Aria turned her head slightly and addressed Anto, who stood just behind her, also watching the monitors. “Bring him up. Starting now, he’s off probation. No supervision necessary. Level 2 clearance.” Anto nodded assent, but his facial expression was disgruntled. Aria ignored it; she had seen enough over the past seven months to be confident that Reyes was securely ensnared in her operations. 

Aria sat at her desk chair as she waited for Reyes and Anto to return. She watched the other monitors idly to distract herself from the heat and anticipation warming her belly and groin, her sharp mind noting a skinny girl twitchily buying red sand down on the Talons dock, two salarians eating vegetarian ramen in the market, a pair of asari Eclipse mercs arguing down in the slums, a Blue Suns guard kicking some hapless resident of the slums. _Nothing outside of the usual,_ she thought to herself. 

Five minutes later, Anto pinged her omni-tool to indicate he had returned. She remotely unlocked the office door and turned her chair to face him and Reyes as they walked in. Reyes’ face remained impassive, but his eyes darted around the spacious room curiously; he had never been here before, had only ever visited the main club and the sub-basement. 

Aria made eye contact with Anto and jerked her chin wordlessly towards the door. The batarian pursed his lips slightly with displeasure, but nodded obediently and left the room. 

Reyes nodded respectfully to Anto as he left, then turned to Aria, his hands comfortably in his pockets. He greeted her with a small nod, his bronze eyes warm. “Aria. What can I do for you?” 

Aria gazed up at him, her face as cool as ever. “Good news. You’re officially off probation. You don’t need babysitting anymore.” She crossed her legs elegantly and tapped at her omni-tool. Reyes’ omni-tool briefly lit with a notification, which he glanced at but didn’t check, instead keeping his hands in his pockets. Aria glanced curiously at him, but continued speaking. “I’ve just given you Level 2 security clearance. You’ll be able to access certain areas and storage rooms without prior clearance from me or Anto. But don’t abuse this privilege. If you steal my shit, or do any non-official business, I’ll-” 

“You’ll cut my balls off slowly and make me watch, I know. I won’t let you down.” Reyes smiled more widely, and with a hint of pride, Aria noted with mild amusement. Then she narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “Why are your hands in your pockets?” 

Reyes smirked. “Didn’t get a chance to wash them before Anto came down.” He removed his hands from his pockets. The lines on his palms and the crevices around his fingernails were lined with dried blood. 

Aria looked at his hands, and the evidence of his violence - and his casual attitude about it - sent an electric shock of lust through her body. Abruptly she stood from her chair and walked towards him. She felt a flicker of dark amusement when his face became wary at her sudden approach, but didn't give him any time to back away. She grabbed his jacket and yanked him down to her level, then kissed him hard, pressing the heat of her body against his. 

Reyes stiffened with surprise. Then he grabbed her hips firmly, pulling her pelvis to his, and kissed her back enthusiastically. He stroked his tongue firmly against hers and bit at her lower lip, making her hiss in a tight breath of desire. Aria broke the kiss long enough to frantically peel off her short white jacket, then moved back towards Reyes, forcefully shoving him back against the wall. 

Reyes grunted as he hit the wall, then grabbed her hips again and kissed her, dominantly thrusting his tongue into her mouth to tangle with hers, further heightening her arousal. Aria was naturally dominant in sex, and usually her partners submitted to her wishes. But Reyes seemed to be fighting for control, and the change was refreshing - and further spurred Aria’s desire to force him into submission. She slid her fingers up the tight, almost shaven sides of his hair, then clenched her fist in the longer hair on top and ruthlessly pulled his head back. Reyes hissed in surprised pain, then dug his fingers into her hips as she stood on tiptoe and bit his neck just below his Adam’s apple. 

Abruptly, Reyes palmed her breast roughly through her bodysuit, his thumb slipping inside the tight cup of the bustier to graze her nipple. Aria gasped at the suddenness of his touch and the ripple of pleasure it sent from her nipples down to her groin. Reyes took advantage of her moment of distraction, moving his hand from her breast to grab her chin firmly. “Aria. What is this? What do you want from me?”

Aria knocked his hand off her face and grabbed his balls through his pants, then caressed his hard shaft, gratified when his eyelids fluttered with arousal. “I’d have thought it was obvious,” she gritted. “I want you to fuck me. Hard. Right now.” She started kicking her boots off, her hand still stroking his cock. 

“I can see that,” he purred, hooking one finger into the deep V of her bodysuit and pulling her towards him. “But what happens after-?” 

Reyes gasped in shock when she removed her hand from his crotch and suddenly slapped him hard across the face. “Don't ruin this with sentimentality, Reyes,” she said, her cold voice a stark contrast to the blazing heat in her eyes, her pupils huge and dark with lust. “A fuck is just a fuck. And if you're good, maybe we’ll do it often. But that's all it is.” Without waiting for his response, she reached around her back and unzipped her bodysuit, then briskly stripped in a few practiced movements, revealing herself to be stark naked under the suit. 

The indignation in Reyes’ face melted away as her bodysuit hit the floor. Aria watched him smugly as his greedy stare roved over breasts, the sheen of arousal on her thighs and labia. 

“Take off your clothes.” Aria delivered her command in the same hard, cold tone she used when demanding information from a prisoner, satisfied when Reyes obeyed immediately: he shucked his jacket and swiftly pulled his shirt over his head, then shed the rest of his clothes briskly. 

As soon as Reyes was naked, Aria stepped close, but before she could make a move, Reyes encircled her waist with his left arm and forcefully pulled her close, then dipped his head and ran his tongue over her nipple. Aria grabbed his shoulders and arched into his mouth, panting with excitement as he suckled her right nipple deeply, swirling his tongue round the areola and then biting her nipple, making her gasp in arousal and pain. His right hand drifted slowly down her belly, then confidently stroked her pussy. 

Aria groaned in pleasure at his touch, her fingernails digging into his shoulders. Reyes gently stroked the length of her labia with two fingers, spreading the slippery moisture of her arousal and grazing her clit with unbearable gentleness; then, without warning, he plunged one finger into her heat.

Aria moaned and unabashedly thrust her pelvis against his hand as he slipped a second finger inside of her. She was surprised by how horny she was from his take-charge manner; she preferred her partners submissive and complying with her demands, but it was refreshing - and sexy as hell - to not have to give orders for once. She grabbed his hair again, and he raised his face from her breast to look her in the eye. “Fuck me,” she hissed. His fingers suddenly weren’t enough; she wanted _more_ , and she wanted it now. 

Abruptly, Reyes wrapped his hands around her thighs and lifted her up, and she instantly wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck for support. He swiftly turned so their positions were reversed and forcefully pressed her against the wall, making her gasp at the sudden impact. Reyes shifted her weight slightly so she was supported by his right arm and his hips; then, with his left hand, he pulled her hand from his shoulder and slammed her arm into the wall, his fingers wrapped around her wrist in a strong grip.

Aria’s lust rose to a fever pitch at this dominant move. She squirmed and undulated her pelvis towards his, but couldn’t quite seem to get his cock within reach of her heat. She glared at him in frustration… then suddenly realized from the mischievous glint of his bronze eyes that he was purposely holding out on her. 

“You asshole! You…” Aria spluttered in indignation, speechless for once. Without even consciously thinking about it, a glow of biotic energy started forming around the hand that was captured in his grip. No one had ever defied her like this, not when she made such overt sexual demands. 

Reyes’ eyes darted to her hand, and he roughly shook her wrist, squeezing it harder. “Don’t you use that biotic shit on me,” he snapped, and his voice sounded so cold and hard, like the torturer in the cells… like her own voice. 

Aria couldn’t take it anymore. His coldness, his hard voice and his hard cock, it was all too much. “Oh, goddess, just fuck me _now_ -” 

Reyes shifted his hips and abruptly slammed his cock into her, and she cried out uninhibitedly at the fullness of his shaft inside of her, filling her up. Impatiently she bucked her hips against his, and _finally_ he complied, withdrawing and then swiftly thrusting into her again, his left hand under her ass guiding and supporting their sex. They fell into a fast, driving rhythm, Reyes panting and groaning in her ear, his grip on her wrist becoming tighter as he continued to thrust fast and deep. Aria’s breaths started coming short and sharp as waves of pleasure built in her core. Suddenly, Reyes dipped his head slightly and bit her nipple, and the kick of pain made her climax, the waves of pleasure exploding from her core all the way out to her extremities, making her ears ring and her calves twitch convulsively. 

As soon as the aftershocks of her climax subsided, Aria shoved at Reyes’ chest with her free hand. “Put me down. And lie down on the floor. Now.” 

Reyes obediently withdrew from her body and gently set her on her feet, then slowly lay down on his back, his eyes watching her with a combination of lust and wariness. As soon as he was flat on the ground, Aria kneeled between his legs and grabbed his shaft, making him gasp, then took his cock deep in her throat until her lips hit the hilt of his shaft. 

“F-fuck,” Reyes gasped as she slid her mouth up and down his shaft and gently kneaded his balls with her hand. Aria then swiftly repositioned herself over Reyes’ body so her thighs were on either side of his head, straddling his face. She continued sucking firmly on his cock, and her skin tingled in anticipation as she felt his hot breath on her pussy. Eagerly, Reyes wrapped his hands around her thighs and then slicked his tongue without hesitation across her clit. 

Aria moaned around his cock, the vibration of her mouth and throat making Reyes buck up involuntarily against her lips. She spread her legs slightly wider, allowing him greater access to her pussy with his lips and tongue. Aria continued to suck frantically at Reyes’ cock as his tongue slid smoothly between her labia, then flicked up to tease her clit, swirling circles around the sensitive nub and then gently sliding over it. Aria could feel the building heat and pressure of her climax as his skillful tongue slicked over her heat. Finally, as he pressed a hot open-mouthed kiss against her clit, she came again, her cry of pleasure muffled by his cock in her mouth as she took his shaft as deeply into her throat as possible. The wet heat of her throat, combined with the vibrations from her cry, brought Reyes to orgasm, and he groaned into her pussy, the vibrations from his voice further heightening her pleasure. She greedily swallowed every drop of his release. 

Still panting from her orgasms, Aria rolled away from Reyes and stood up, leaving him breathing heavily on the floor as she shakily walked to the bathroom on the far side of the office. _Fuck, that was amazing,_ she thought smugly as she cleaned up. _Definitely worth the wait._

After tidying up, Aria emerged from the bathroom and was pleased to find Reyes getting dressed. _None of that cuddling bullshit,_ she thought approvingly as he glanced at her while doing up his belt and quirked an eyebrow in appreciation at her nakedness. 

Aria folded her arms in a businesslike gesture, unconcerned by her nudity. “Now that you’ve earned the privilege of being one of my agents, you’re here for good now. There’s no changing your mind. No going back to the Alliance now. They’d never take you back anyway; you’re disgraced. Is this clear?”

Reyes smiled slowly at her, but the smile didn't quite reach the hardness of his bronze eyes. He slowly approached her and slid his hand around the back of her neck, then firmly pulled her close until his lips were grazing hers. Aria surprised herself by permitting his proprietary touch. “Fuck the Alliance,” he murmured, and his cold words - and hot lips - immediately lit a flare of heat and desire across her skin. She grabbed his hair again and kissed him hard, allowing herself to enjoy the slide of his tongue against hers, revelling in one of the perks of being the boss of Omega: a flexible schedule, able to accommodate… delays.

********************

After the first time in Aria’s office, she and Reyes began having sex often, always on Aria’s terms: she summoned him when and where she wanted him, and Reyes obeyed, though he felt embarrassed by how eagerly he made himself available to the pirate queen’s whims. His guilty crush on Aria had become a full-blown infatuation once they started fucking regularly. Reyes hoped his infatuation would wear off, since Aria had made it crystal clear that she was _not_ interested in any kind of emotional relationship, with him or anyone. On one occasion, after sex at Reyes’ apartment, Reyes had unthinkingly asked Aria to stay after she rolled out of his bed, then immediately wanted to punch himself in the face for his gaffe. 

She had paused in the act of pulling her bodysuit on and turned to him with a cold stare. “Don't _ever_ ask me to stay,” she’d said, her voice hard. Reyes had broken the tension by making some smartass quip then changing the subject to a smuggling consult with the Blue Suns that he was working on, and Aria had seemed mollified. Reyes had thus quickly learned to keep his treacherous feelings pushed aside until they (hopefully) went away on their own. 

Aside from this one slip-up on Reyes’ part, their sexual relationship had no impact on their working relationship. This was made easier by how stone-cold clear Aria had been about their liaisons being sex and only sex. Despite his feelings for her, Reyes respected (and, if he was being totally honest, feared) her too much to even consider bringing up the possibility of anything more. 

As weeks became months, Reyes became used to their arrangement, and to his relief, his feelings for Aria mellowed until he actually came to prefer that he and Aria each adopted their professional roles immediately after orgasm, with business talk usually preceding and following sex. Reyes also began sleeping with Emari, who hero-worshipped Aria and whom Reyes suspected got a thrill from sleeping with Aria’s protégé: she sometimes called him ‘Aria with a dick’ with more admiration than teasing. He didn't directly mention his arrangement with Emari to Aria - after all, it wasn’t business - and if Aria knew, she didn't care and never brought it up. 

By the time Reyes had been on Omega for ten months, he had built a comfortable and powerful life for himself. He had accrued a tidy savings from his salary and commissions as Aria’s smuggling expert, and though his true professional role with Aria was largely kept quiet, Aria’s mysterious smuggling consultant had gained a well-respected notoriety among Omega’s criminal bodies. He was friendly enough with Garka, Cassian and some of Aria’s other people to go for drinks after hours a couple of times a week. And if he was honest, he _liked_ living on Omega; the station’s vibrancy was tempered by a darkness that Reyes felt had seeped into his sense of self, and he revelled in it. His ten years with the Alliance had started to take on the blurry quality of distant memory. And if Gojevic’s dead, blank stare ever flitted into his mind, he ruthlessly distracted himself with a smuggling job, or an interrogation in the holding cells, or with the smooth amethyst skin and lush, cruel lips of Aria T’Loak.

*********************

Reyes sat at the edge of his bed, naked to the waist, and tried to peer over his shoulder. He reached over his shoulder and gingerly touched his shoulder blade, feeling for the bite mark Aria had left when she'd shoved him face-first against the wall earlier that evening. He brought his fingers back and checked them for blood, briefly satisfied when he found none; he wasn't sure she’d help him clean a bleeding wound, even if she'd inflicted it. These days, his body sported myriad marks and bruises of varying ages from his exertions with her.

Reyes had realized within their first three sexual encounters that Aria was an absolute sadist. During torture sessions, Reyes used his carefully cultivated coldness to ignore prisoners’ pain, but he knew that Aria gained pleasure from others’ pain during torture, and that she was only really able to enjoy sex when she was hurting him, even just a little. He enjoyed some of her biting and scratching, but when she got too rough or her biotics started to flare up in excitement, he had to push back… and when he commanded her to stop, or to take her hands off him, or to turn around and bend over the bed, his dominance only seemed to inflame her lust even further. 

Reyes glanced over at the small bathroom of his tidy studio apartment; Aria was cleaning up. He stood and headed over to his handsomely stocked minibar and poured himself a whiskey. She strolled naked out of the bathroom then, and he offered her his glass of whiskey; she didn't like it when he offered her a drink of her own, since it implied that he wanted her to stick around. She wordlessly took the glass and downed it in one gulp, then handed the glass back with a brief nod of thanks. 

“Any further concerns about that Cerberus activity in the Talons docks?” Reyes asked briskly as he poured himself another drink. Grizz’s scans and investigations at the Talons dock a few months back had revealed that a Cerberus operative named Pel had rented a warehouse to run his operations. Aria had continued hacking their surveillance to try and find out more about Cerberus’ aims and whether they had any ambitions about Omega in particular, until finally the Talons had found the chip and removed it. The chip had contained a safeguard that broke when removed from the camera, resulting in a small chemical reaction within the chip that corroded its tiny hardware so it was untraceable; so despite the Talons’ likely suspicions that Aria was behind it, they had no proof. In the meantime, Aria had a small contingent of intel agents trying to keep tabs on the Talons and their Cerberus-related activities.

Aria shook her head as she sat on the edge of the bed to pull on her bodysuit. “Nothing that requires interference so far, not since we attacked them. They’ve been paying their dues faithfully, always on time. And the after-hours landings have stopped.” She stood and turned her back to Reyes, and pointed to her back to indicate for him to zip her up. She continued to speak as he dutifully pulled up her zipper. “Their ‘good behaviour’ is more suspicious than their petty attempts to bend the rules. This Cerberus group might be more cunning and powerful than they seem if their business is important enough for the Talons to fall into line. But Anto has been keeping close tabs on them. They won’t take me by surprise.”

Reyes nodded acknowledgement of this, then sipped his whiskey. He ran his fingers through his hair, slicking it back - he’d let it grow long on the top in the past few months, figuring it helped him blend in more on Omega than his army-standard crew cut - then looked up to find Aria gazing speculatively at him, her arms folded and her chin tilted up thoughtfully. “What?” he asked with a small frown.

She continued to look at him thoughtfully, her eyes narrowed, then bluntly asked her question. “When you first came to Omega on your little mission. Who sent you here?” 

Reyes looked at her in surprise. She hadn’t asked him anything about his Alliance mission since the first day they’d met and she’d tortured him. “Are you worried about the Alliance coming here?” 

Aria raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips in the don’t-be-stupid look that Reyes had become fond of. “Please. The Alliance doesn’t worry me. But someone in the Citadel wanted intel. I sometimes wonder why they didn’t try harder to get it.”

Reyes nodded slowly, his mind churning. It would be treason to the Alliance to tell Aria who had sent him on his mission here, especially since Anderson had specifically wanted to keep it quiet from the Council. But… Reyes wasn’t Alliance anymore. He hadn’t been Alliance for almost a year. He was one of Omega’s people now. 

He took a deep breath - he couldn’t take this information back once he shared it - and told Aria the truth. “Admiral David Anderson sent us. He’d received a tip that you knew something about some group called the Collectors.” 

Aria continued to gaze at him thoughtfully, her face neutral; she didn’t react at all to his confession. Reyes sipped his whiskey, feeling vaguely guilty - a feeling he hadn’t had in several months. 

Then Aria spoke. “The Collectors had an agreement with the Blue Suns. I interrupted their meeting and killed them all. Anto collected the intel from their meeting spot. The Collectors had been obtaining information about the population totals of all the human colonies.” 

Reyes stared at her in shock. He couldn’t believe she had actually told him the information his squad had come for so many months ago - just told him so casually, without him even asking. Belatedly, the meaning of her words sunk in. “Population totals… Why would they want that? Are they planning some kind of massive attack? A genocide...?” A shiver of trepidation ran over his body, making the hairs on his arms stand on end. He continued to stare at her, her face neutral and uncompromising. He knew the answer to his next question before he even asked it, but he asked anyway. “Did you tell anyone?”

Aria gazed at him, arms still folded, her pale blue eyes devoid of emotion. “Information is power. If they really wanted to know, they would send someone else to negotiate instead of sneaking around on my station.” With these last words, she lowered her chin and stared pointedly at him. He tilted his head slightly in apologetic acknowledgement. 

“Besides,” Aria continued as she pulled on her short white jacket, “The Council is so ass-backwards, I’m sure they would either bury the information or deny it. I’m holding onto it it until someone pays me handsomely for it… or asks nicely.” By this, Reyes knew she meant some kind of major favour. 

Reyes nodded. “Understood.” But his stomach churned. Aria’s information had huge implications. He understood now why Anderson had wanted this intel, and why he had wanted to be so careful about obtaining it. Now, ten months and a lifetime of experiences later, Reyes had the intel… and Aria had implicitly trusted him with it, and trusted him not to say anything. He felt conflicted: flattered by her trust, guilty all over again about the Alliance… and a slither of fear at the implications of the information she had conveyed. 

Aria turned, fully dressed, and looked intensely at him. Her face was hard and cold - the face that meant she was deadly serious. “Reyes. You’ve earned this information. Don’t make me regret telling you. Keep it to yourself.” 

As always, the threat was implied, and Reyes nodded, his face equally serious. “I understand, Aria. It’s as good as forgotten.” She nodded sharply, then eyed him critically. “Look after that shoulder. You might need medigel.” She smirked, then without another word, she was gone. 

Reyes smirked and rolled his eyes, then went to the bathroom for medigel. But his body still hummed with worry. He didn’t intend to tell the information to anyone, but there was no way he would forget it anytime soon - not something with such huge possible ramifications. 

Reyes washed the sweaty residue from his shoulder blade with difficulty, then dabbed on the medigel. Little worms of doubt were wiggling their way into his brain. He’d worked happily alongside Aria for many months now; he understood her methods and her reasoning, and through their sexual relationship, he felt that he understood her relatively well too. But this was the first time he’d ever questioned a decision she’d made. As much as Reyes was concerned with his own wellbeing and self-preservation, he didn’t think he could ever be so selfish as to keep intel of this importance and hold it hostage. 

Reyes flopped back down on his bed, then rolled onto his stomach so his shoulder blade could have some time to heal. He gradually eased into his meditative breathing - so effective at calming an anxious mind, and so incredibly useful at helping him push away his worries or doubts. _Aria is the boss; it’s her prerogative to decide what to do with the resources she has. This information is just a resource._

Eventually, Reyes felt himself drifting into relaxation and sleep. He was supposed to go to the barracks’ fight club tonight and then for drinks with Cassian and Garka, but he couldn’t be bothered. He sent Cassian a quick message on his omni-tool, then rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. But for the first time in months, sleep didn’t come right away. Aria’s cold, beautiful face drifted in his semi-conscious mind, her full lips around his cock, her neutral expression as she trusted him with her intel… and Gojevic’s bleeding head as it hit the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Oh dark!Reyes... So cruel but so beautiful. Hopefully he's not so cruel that you lovely readers aren't scared off by him! :(  
> Reyes still has a long journey to go. I hope you guys are strapped in for a bumpy and adventurous ride for our gorgeous smuggler.


	8. Tattoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes allows Aria to put her mark on him... and questions himself a little bit.
> 
> A/N: This chapter was actually written almost a month after I finished the rest of the story, so technically it’s an optional chapter. It’s 100% fluff and SMUT, so feel free to skip it if you're not into that.
> 
> Thanks for flight_feather for the inspiration and encouragement!!!
> 
> NSFW.

Reyes clenched his jaw. With his back naked and exposed, he felt uncomfortably vulnerable. _This is going to fucking hurt,_ he thought darkly, then forced himself to breathe in deeply through his nose, then out through his mouth. A cool hand touched his left shoulder blade and he flinched, rattlings the chains around his wrists. He mentally berated himself for this show of weakness. 

Aria huffed out a disgusted breath, then pressed more firmly on his shoulder blade. “Hold still. I’ve never done this before. And there will be blood.” He turned his head to look at her and was utterly unsurprised to find her grinning at him, the sadistic bitch. 

“Tell me again why you aren’t doing this to Anto?” Reyes complained. “ _He’s_ your 2IC. This doesn’t seem fair.”

Afterlife was deserted at this hour of the afternoon; only Aria’s requisite four guards were present, scattered at various corners of the club. At some point the night before, probably after one (or two, or three) too many whiskeys, he had agreed to let Aria tattoo him. He wasn’t sure what had suddenly prompted her interest in being an amateur tattoo artist; maybe she was bored. He also wasn’t sure why he needed to be on his knees with his arms behind his back and chained to a stripper pole while she did it, but Aria wasn’t big on giving rationale. If Aria said to do something, Reyes did it. 

Aria strode around in front of Reyes and grabbed his chin, pulling his face up to look at her. “Because batarian skin is too tough,” she explained, her voice slow and exaggerated as though she was speaking to a particularly stupid toddler. “The ink wouldn’t penetrate it. Now shut the fuck up and find your balls. I’m ready to start.” She released his chin and sat on a stool behind Reyes; he felt the pressure of her knees bracketing his back as she made herself comfortable. “Just breathe,” she said, her voice gentle. 

_Gentleness. That’s never a good sign,_ Reyes thought. Then he felt the firm pressure of her hand on his shoulder blade, her fingers holding the skin taut… and the first sharp poke. 

Reyes pursed his lips, already regretting this decision, but there was nothing he could do about it now. _Just breathe._ The quick, tiny pokes continued, each one like a miniscule bite of fiery pain, broken only by short pauses as Aria wiped the excess ink and replenished her needle. Reyes breathed in through his nose, then out.

After a few minutes, he realized that the sharp, quick pokes weren’t bothering him anymore; it had faded into a dull annoyance. _Thank Christ for endorphins,_ he thought ruefully. His kneeling position was swiftly becoming more uncomfortable than the pokes. “How much longer?” he asked. 

Aria gave a dismissive sniff. “The outline is mostly done. Come on, Reyes, I’d have thought this would be a nice massage compared to that whipping you got on your first day here.” Her tone was mocking and amused, a sure sign that she was enjoying his discomfort. 

Reyes rolled his eyes. “Please, it hardly hurts. I just want to know when I can stretch my legs.” 

Aria leaned in close to his ear. “You’ll stretch your legs when I fucking say so,” she whispered, the hot rush of her breath on his cheekbone making a shiver of anticipation run down his bare back. 

“Just hurry the fuck up, will you? This kneeling is getting real old, real fast,” he drawled. Then he gasped in shock and pain as Aria suddenly smacked the half-finished tattoo with the flat of her palm. “Fuck!” he hissed. 

Aria gave a nasty little chuckle. “Don’t be mouthy. Now hold still.” She continued her poking, and the pain was amplified thanks to her slap. Reyes gritted his teeth and forced himself to breathe in, then out. How could she be so mean and so sexy at the same time? 

Time dragged on, the sharp little stabbing pains dulling as the aching in his knees intensified. At one point, Aria actually took pity on him and made Garka bring him a cushion to kneel on. (Reyes, feeling embarrassed by his prostrate position, had avoided making eye contact with the smirking batarian.) After what felt like many hours, Aria gave a satisfied sigh and stood up. “It’s done,” she announced, kicking the stool aside. 

“And?” Reyes asked as he leaned back with a groan. His entire body felt stiff and painful from his locked position. “How is it?” 

“See for yourself,” Aria said, grabbing a nearby datapad and taking a quick photo. She showed him the datapad. On his left shoulder he now sported the Omega symbol in blood-red ink, the symbol about as long as his index finger. The lines were clean and precise, the symbol uniformly filled in with no gaps. 

Reyes frowned at Aria. It looked good. Too good. “This wasn’t really your first time doing this, was it?” 

She gave him a faint smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and stretched her arms leisurely over her head. “Of course not. I’m over a thousand years old. I just wanted to watch you squirm.” 

Reyes’ gaze got stuck on her lithe body as she stretched. Her back arched languorously, reminding him forcibly of the way her back curved in pleasure when he had her naked. “Unlock these chains,” he said, pulling at his hands and making the archaic metal cuffs jangle. With a pained grunt, he effortfully rose from his knees to a standing position and kicked away the cushion he’d been kneeling on. 

Aria looked at him sharply and lowered her hands to her hips. “I think what you mean to say was ‘thank you for the excellent gratis tattoo, Aria,’” she replied smoothly. Then she turned her back to him and slowly pulled off her white jacket. 

A rush of lust pooled in Reyes’ belly, and he could feel his erection unfurling. “What are you doing?” he asked slowly. It was obvious what her intention was, but her four guards were still milling around the room. 

She shot him a look over her shoulder as she dropped her jacket on the floor and kicked off her boots, but didn’t reply. Slowly she turned towards him and approached him, her steps silent and sinuous as a tiger’s, but her hips swaying from side to side like a wet dream. She stood a foot away from him, then took his chin gently in her fingers and leaned in. 

Reyes leaned forward to meet her flushed amethyst lips, but the chains around his wrists pulled him back. He scowled in frustration… then Aria traced his lips delicately with the tip of her tongue. 

Reyes’ lips parted with lust and he unthinkingly tried to grab her. The chains resisted with a loud _clank_. 

He growled at Aria and she smirked at him, her pupils dark. She took one tiny step away from him, making sure that she was just out of his reach, then turned her back to him again and reached behind her back to undo the zipper of her bodysuit. Slowly and smoothly, she peeled the bodysuit down from her neck and off of her shoulders. Reyes stared at her, his heart pounding with lust and anger that she wouldn’t release him from the pole. 

Aria slowly turned to face him, the top half of her bodysuit hanging around her hips. She slid her hand from the back of her neck down over her bare breast, then lifted her eyes to his as she brushed her nipple with her thumb. Her hand continued its torturous journey over her navel and then down into the crotch of her bodysuit. A moment later, she slowly lifted her fingers from inside her pants; they were slick with the sheen of her moisture. 

Reyes swallowed longingly as Aria smiled at him - a cold, predatory smile - then slid her wet middle finger into her mouth. Slowly, she drew the finger out of her mouth, then she stepped towards him, her index finger glistening with her enticing sheen, and reached towards his mouth. He opened his lips in anticipation, his wrists straining at the chains, but Aria only brushed his lower lip gently with her finger, then abruptly turned her back on him and stepped away, briskly wiping her hand on her bodysuit. 

Reyes licked his bottom lip eagerly, then growled at her. “Goddammit, Aria.” She ignored him, again standing just a mere two feet away from him, then slowly pulled off the bottom half of her bodysuit. As was customary, she was naked underneath, and Reyes bit his lip, his cock surging in his pants as the perfect twin globes of her ass and smooth curves of her legs were revealed. 

Reyes pulled hard at the chains on his wrists, his biceps straining with the effort. The resounding _clank_ of the chains against the pole echoed through the empty club. “Aria!” he snapped. “Let me go. _Now._ ” 

She turned and slapped him across the face, and the red-hot pain momentarily matched the stinging on his left shoulder blade. Then she grabbed him by the throat, her hand glowing very faintly, and Reyes could feel a slight pressure around his throat as her biotics slowly compressed his airway. Discomfort and arousal warred inside his body as she slowly pressed her naked body against his, her nipples like warm little marbles against his chest, the heat of her groin straddling his left thigh. “Stop giving me commands like you think I’ll listen to you,” she said, the coldness of her voice contrasting sharply with the heat of her skin. She released his throat and backed away from him slightly, her hand sliding teasingly down his chest. 

Reyes panted as her hand trailed lower and briskly unbuttoned his pants. Then he hissed in a sharp breath as she pulled out his cock and stroked it briskly. Aria pressed herself against him again and hooked one leg around his hips, then gently pushed his cock between her thighs so it slid with delicious friction against her slick labia. 

Reyes dropped his head and gasped against her cheek as she undulated her hips smoothly against his, spreading her moisture over the length of his cock and teasing him with the heat of her pussy. He slid his mouth along her cheek and tried to kiss her. She abruptly pulled back and stepped away from him again, then backhanded him sharply across the face. 

Reyes breathed in sharply through his nose, his cheekbone and his rage burning white-hot. “You fucking sadistic cocktease,” he snarled, enraged. He didn’t even give a shit anymore if her guards were in the room. They could have an entire audience for all he cared. He jerked at the chains, the rattling noise ringing through the club. “ _Dammit_ , Aria! _Fuck!_ ” he yelled, then yanked at his hands so hard that he felt some of the skin breaking at his wrists, and the pole shook with his efforts.

She stood three feet away from him, her legs spread confidently, and laughed at him. “You’re like an animal,” she taunted. “Pulling at your chains and snarling.” She approached him again, and the sway of her hips made it look like she was dancing. “You understand that I’ve branded you, right? Just like a well-trained varren. You belong to Omega now.” She stood mere inches from him, then reached around his back and lightly scratched his new tattoo. Her nails were gentle, but the pain was like a firebrand on his back, and he jerked away from her touch. 

She laughed again, a low, satisfied chuckle, then stepped close to him until his thigh was between her legs, and rested her fingers on his stinging cheek. “You belong to _me_ now,” she whispered, her words like a sweet malediction. Then finally she kissed him. 

Reyes plunged his tongue into her mouth, stroking roughly at her tongue with his, then biting and suckling at her tongue in an attempt to punish her. He bit her full lower lip, satisfied when she gasped and pressed her body against him, rubbing her nipples wantonly against his chest. 

Abruptly she broke their kiss and reached behind him, and _finally,_ at long last, she unlocked the chains around his wrists. Reyes wasted no time. He grabbed her by the crest, pulling her head back and to the side, and bit her hard at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. 

Aria cried out with pleasure, her hands flying up to his chest to sink her nails into his pecs, then she gasped in surprise as Reyes lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder. “What the fuck?” she grunted as his shoulder pushed against her diaphragm, forcing the air from her lungs. 

Reyes strode quickly up the steps of her dais and threw her down on the couch. He barely gave her time to take a breath before he was kneeling between her legs. “You think I’m an animal, do you? No animal would do this.” Then his face was between her thighs, his tongue lapping hungrily at her clit before he plunged his tongue inside of her. 

Aria cried out, her back arching and her hand gripping the back of the couch as he thrust his tongue inside of her in an erotic mimicry of his cock. He withdrew his tongue and swirled gentle, light circles around and then over her clit. He listened with satisfaction as her panting became more frantic, the muscles of her thighs trembling. When she gave a tiny moan, her thighs tensing suddenly to herald her impending orgasm, Reyes abruptly stopped licking her pussy and sat back on his heels. 

Aria’s eyes flew open and she stared at him in confusion, then disbelief when she saw the smug look on his face. “You asshole,” she gritted, and he laughed. 

“Not such a dumb animal now, am I?” he purred, then lowered his face back to her pussy again and smoothed his tongue and his lower lip over her clit. 

Aria threw her head back, her eyes pressed shut tightly. Reyes slid his tongue up and down her warm cleft and then swirled her clit once more, and Aria suddenly cried out in orgasm, helplessly lifting her hips and pressing her groin firmly to his mouth. 

The moment her hips began to relax, Reyes stood and shoved his pants down to his knees, then lifted her from the couch and sat on the couch, straddling her across his hips. “Fuck me. Hard,” he commanded. 

Aria braced one hand on his shoulder, her other hand already grabbing for his cock. “Don’t tell me what to do,” she said distractedly, sliding the head of his cock against the length of her hot pussy and then guiding him inside her. She panted sharply, her hands on his shoulders, then slammed her pelvis down against him. 

“Yes,” Reyes groaned helplessly, his head falling back with pleasure as he stretched his arms along the length of her couch. Aria’s hips rose and fell in a furious rhythm as she fucked him, her breaths coming short and sharp. Reyes’ climax began to build as Aria rocked against him, then ground herself slowly in a circular motion. Abruptly he reached behind her and scratched his nails along the length of her left shoulder blade and back. 

Aria hissed in sudden pain and glared down at him, and he smiled. “Fair’s fair,” he murmured, then scratched her again. She groaned with a mixture of pain and pleasure and arched against him, her nipples pressing against his face. He eagerly took one tempting blue nipple into his mouth and suckled firmly, his left hand stroking the underside of her breast and his right hand sliding down to her ass to guide her rocking motions. She picked up speed, her nails digging into his shoulders and her panting breaths becoming broken whimpers as her orgasm built. Reyes’ climax was also building, and as the muscles deep inside her clenched and contracted around his cock, Reyes also came. He grabbed her face and stifled her scream of pleasure with his tongue in her mouth, his hips thrusting up from the couch to spill his release inside of her. 

As the aftershocks of their simultaneous orgasm receded, Reyes slid his tongue against Aria’s one last time, then let his head fall back against the couch in exhaustion. Aria abruptly lifted herself off his lap and stood, strolling leisurely towards the stripper pole where her clothes lay.

Reyes slowly stood and pulled his pants up. “So, when do I get to return the favour and tattoo you?” he called out to her jokingly. “Maybe a nice big R.V. on your ass?”

Aria turned to look at him as she zipped up her bodysuit, her face dead serious. “The only marks that will ever touch my skin are the ones on my face. I’m nobody’s pet.” She gave him a contemptuous smirk, then picked up her jacket and boots and headed for the elevator. “Now get out of here before I make you pay the bill for cleaning my couch. Be on time for your guard shift at 21:00.” 

Reyes smirked and rolled his eyes, then slowly made his way to the stripper pole to pick up his shirt and jacket. His left shoulder burned as he bent down to retrieve the tidy folded pile of his clothes on the floor, and he realized belatedly that he didn’t know how to keep the new tattoo from getting infected. He gave a heavy sigh. _Guess I’ll be making another trip to Mordin,_ he thought in resignation, then trudged towards Afterlife’s exit.

As Reyes made his way towards Mordin’s clinic, he couldn’t help but ponder Aria’s words. He’d thought the tattoo was just a harmless diversion; after all, skin was just skin, and tattoo removal was easy and cheap. But Aria’s taunts rang in his mind. _You’ve been branded… You belong to Omega. You belong to me now._

Reyes was largely comfortable with his choice to stay on Omega, but he’d always considered it to be just that: his choice. Reyes Vidal didn’t belong to anyone, not even Aria T’Loak. He was his own man. Wasn’t he?

Wasn’t he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone catch that little reference to the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (the American film)? One of my favourite movies of all time.


	9. Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes sees something he can't unsee, fights Aria for control... and makes a major decision. 
> 
> NSFW alert!!
> 
> TW: Rough/dominant sex that's implicitly consensual but not... explicitly consensual? Can't really say more without spoiling. Angry hate sex. Hopefully that'll be explanation enough.

Reyes leaned back on the couch and sighed heavily, rolling his head from side to side to loosen his stiff neck. He was in the private room in Afterlife that Aria had assigned as his informal office. It had been a particularly busy day; smugglers had more goods to move than Omega had transports to move them, and two days ago Garka had given him a new list of offworld pilots and other crew who might be interested and trustworthy - or greedy - enough to reliably join Omega’s smuggling economy. Reyes was trying to filter all his intel and surreptitiously meet or speak with the candidates from the list, but Cassian was sick (he’d eaten levo-amino ramen in the market last night, the stupid pyjak) and Aria had needed Reyes to step in this afternoon at the last minute with an interrogation job. It was 19:48, and he’d only just gotten back to his office. 

One of Afterlife’s staff pinged his omni-tool, and he allowed entry into the private room. An asari waitress named Aryn wafted in. “Can I get you anything, Reyes?” she smiled. The waitresses at Afterlife liked Reyes; he was handsome and he flirted happily with all of them, but he had decided early on to never sleep with any of them. He’d reasoned that this was the best way to curry favours and preferential treatment from all of them without engendering any petty jealousies. _And besides,_ Reyes thought to himself with dark amusement, thinking of Aria’s taut body and her nails on his back, _I’m the perfect gentleman._

Reyes smiled wanly. “Aryn. Good of you to stop by. Three fingers of Macallan. Put it on Aria’s tab.” 

“Make it one. He’s not done his workday yet.” Aria’s cool voice drifted into the room, followed by Aria herself, her hips swaying in a slinky strut as she walked into his office. She smiled at him - a smile that didn’t reach her cold blue eyes - and seated herself familiarly on the couch kitty-corner to him, crossing one ankle over the other knee and slinging her arm across the back of the couch.

_Uh oh, she’s happy. That means someone’s going to die,_ Reyes thought with resignation. And if she was here, in his office, that meant he was riding shotgun. Reyes ran his fingers through his hair in exhaustion. Despite the occasional nagging doubts that pecked at his brain when he was trying to sleep, he was usually on board with whatever Aria wanted, but tonight he was just so _tired._

He sighed and smiled back at her gamely. “Aria. What’ve we got?”

“We’re moving on Jaya’s residence,” Aria replied. Emari and one other agent had been quietly monitoring Jaya’s movements for the past few months, ever since her betrayal had been revealed by the boy Reyes had tortured. Aria had wanted to know whether Jaya was reporting to a superior, or if she had been the mastermind behind the thefts. They knew now that Jaya had been heading the thefts, which had stopped after Reyes had extracted the confession from Jaya’s little helper. Aria had purposely allowed Jaya to be lulled into a false sense of security before deciding to strike. “Me, you and Emari. It’s time to teach her a lesson.” 

_Teach her a lesson… this will be messy,_ Reyes thought tiredly. “Okay. What time?” he said, unable to suppress a sigh of sheer fatigue. 

“We move at 21:00. I want to be back here by 23:00.” Aria cocked her head at him. “Somebody has attitude tonight. Is there a problem?”

Reyes shook his head and gave a tired laugh. “No. I’m just hungry.” Aria threw him a look of disdain, then stood and sauntered out. “I’ll have Aryn bring you something. You have less than two hours. Be ready.” 

“Will do,” he called at her departing back, surprised by the generous offer of food. He then lay sideways on the couch with a groan and closed his eyes. When Aryn came back 15 minutes later with a tray of sushi and Sur’keshian kelp soup, he beamed at her gratefully and politely ignored her lingering gaze over his supine body. He wolfed his food down hungrily, wondering if he could still sneak in a fortifying nap before heading out with Aria. _Something tells me I’ll need it. When Aria’s this happy, it means blood._

*********************

As usual on this type of mission, Aria strode towards the slums with confident purpose, Emari and Reyes close on her heels. After his meal and a quick powernap, Reyes was more clear-headed and energetic; he focused on his breathing as he strode after Aria, to get his head in the game for what was to come. Aria had told him and Emari that Jaya lived in a shared residence and had a family - a wife and son of unknown age. “Jaya is the primary target. But if the family or other residents get in our way…” Aria had brushed some lint from her shoulder unconcernedly, leaving the rest of her directive unspoken. Reyes had nodded agreement, but a bit reluctantly. This was the first time he was moving on someone they knew to have a family. 

They walked through the slums, the shabbily dressed residents parting like the proverbial red sea before Aria’s domineering form as she approached Jaya’s residence. True to form, Aria didn’t hesitate when they reached the door; she biotically yanked it from its hinges and strode through the door, not checking for hidden attackers or threats before bulling inside. Emari and Reyes drew their weapons and automatically assessed the area more carefully before following Aria inside. 

They were only about 5 seconds behind her, but Aria had already wrought havoc on the interior of the residence. In the main room, tables were overturned and chairs smashed, a blue biotic glow flickering over the broken shards of furniture. Three injured figures - two humans and a salarian - were stirring feebly or crying on the floor. Reyes ignored the figures and scanned the room for active threats, then nodded briskly to Emari. _Clear._ Aria stood in the middle of the room, her palms glowing with biotic power.

There was a sudden clattering on the stairs to the left, and an angry female voice. “What the hell is going on down there? Who the fuck-?” Jaya suddenly appeared at the mouth of the stairs, her dark hair in disarray, wearing lounge pants and a tank top. Her jaw dropped when she laid eyes on her unexpected visitors. “Aria?” she gasped, and her right hand twitched towards her back. 

Quick as a flash, Aria flung her hand in Jaya’s direction, and Reyes heard a scream from one of the injured humans the corner of the main room as Jaya flew backwards and slammed into the wall with a sickening _thud_. Before she could slide down the wall or move a muscle, Aria flicked her hand and a singularity appeared at the bottom of the stairs, sucking Jaya and a collection of detritus into its pull. 

“Please, _please,_ leave her alone, please don’t hurt her!” A woman, one of the crying figures that Reyes had noted earlier, was sobbing and crawling towards Aria, tears streaming down her face. Emari aimed her pistol at the woman. “Stop right there,” she said firmly. The woman stopped, but continued begging and pleading. “Please. _Please_ let her go! She’s all we have. She didn’t mean anything by it, Aria, please - she was stealing for her family, just for us!” 

Aria whipped her head around and Aria’s signature tiny singularity appeared by the woman’s throat, cutting off her air supply and words. “If she was just stealing for your family, why did she have a network of newcomers pilfering from my drop points? Hmm?” Aria closed her left fist and the tiny singularity disappeared; the larger singularity containing the semi-conscious Jaya continued to swirl in ethereal blue. The crying woman coughed and gasped; in a trembling voice, she stammered, “I- newcomers? What do you mean? She was just skimming for us!” 

Aria gave a soft, venomous laugh. “Either you’re naive or you’re a liar. Either way, you’re coming with me.” She flicked her left hand dismissively, and the crying woman was flung backwards against the wall, where she fell silent and unconscious. Reyes watched this whole exchange impassively, his breathing calm and measured. _In, one, two, three, hold._

Finally, Aria returned her attention to Jaya, her face cold and bored. She closed her right fist and the singularity disappeared, dropping Jaya unceremoniously to the floor. Aria took a slow step toward her. “So. Stealing for your family?” Her tone dripped with scorn.

Jaya struggled to push herself up to her elbows and looked up at Aria, her face contorted with hate. “I was stealing for this whole fucking neighbourhood. You own this station, and you don’t even care that the slums are starving! The allotments you give aren’t enough. We can’t-” 

Aria threw an exasperated glance at the ceiling and reached down, lifting Jaya by the neck with one hand glowing in biotic blue. “You seem to think I give a shit. You stole from me. You _betrayed_ me. That’s all I need to know.” Aria dropped Jaya back onto the floor, then turned to look at Reyes, her face cold and unconcerned. She jerked her head at Jaya. “Finish her.” Then she turned to Emari. “Call Tarak. Tell him there’s been a disturbance in his territory.” She smirked at this understatement. “Then check the building for any datapads of interest. I’ll check this floor.” Aria then sauntered off in the direction of the small kitchenette. 

Reyes pulled his M-11 Suppressor from his hip holster and slowly stepped over to Jaya, his face neutral, but his guts writhing with discomfort. Jaya wasn’t some common petty thief. Reyes knew Jaya; they’d played cards together a few times with the group. He knew she’d been working for Aria for more than two years. And here she was, crumpled on the floor, about to die by his hand at Aria’s command. _Out, one, two, three…_ Reyes leveled the pistol at her forehead, but before he pulled the trigger, he looked into her eyes.

Her blazing violet eyes stared back at him. “Watch yourself, Vidal,” she gritted. “One wrong move and you’re next.” Reyes couldn't decide if she was threatening him or warning him. He shot her in the face without acknowledging her words. 

He turned away from the Jaya’s body and tucked away the Suppressor, his face impassive but his stomach roiling, and looked idly around the destroyed room. Emari was upstairs searching for datapads, and Aria was in the kitchenette, leisurely poking around in the drawers. Reyes slowly drifted over towards the unconscious woman that Aria had flung into the corner - the woman who seemed to be Jaya’s wife. 

He crouched down beside the woman and felt her pulse. It was steady, and he could see her chest moving with her steady breaths; she was alive and stable. Suddenly, Reyes heard a subtle shuffling sound to his right. He whipped the Suppressor from its holster and aimed it towards the sound… and into the face of a little boy. 

Reyes froze, his Suppressor still aimed. The boy was crouched in the corner of the room, clutching his grubby knees. He had messy black hair and blazing violet eyes that matched Jaya’s. _Jaya’s son,_ he thought, slowly lowering the pistol as he and the boy stared at each other. The most jarring thing about the boy wasn’t his age - he couldn’t be older than five. It was the look on his face. There was no tears on his cheeks, no trembling lip. The boy was silent; his eyes were emotionless, without fear, his face wary and watchful. Reyes stared back at the child, feeling a wave of nausea and long-buried emotion rising in his throat. _He looks like me,_ Reyes thought. _He’s got the same look I had at his age._ This was the face of a child who’d seen too much brutality and was getting desensitized to it… the face of a kid who would become a dead-eyed criminal someday if someone didn’t step in. Reyes swallowed. _If someone doesn’t step in… he’ll become like me._

Reyes tore his eyes away from the kid’s stare and surreptitiously cleared his throat before turning towards Aria. “Aria. Jaya’s kid is here.” 

Aria was sipping delicately from a bottle of vodka she’d found in the freezer. She swallowed and lowered the bottle. “So?” 

Reyes shrugged with a careful lack of concern. “Never dealt with a kid before in these situations. What do we do?”

Aria shrugged impatiently, her lips twisted with annoyance. “Nothing. This is the Blue Suns’ territory; they’ll decide what to do with him. It’s not my concern.” 

Reyes stood and brushed off his knees, then smirked at Aria. He waved a hand at the kid. “Look at this kid. Look at his little face. Two years from now he’ll murder someone for a cookie,” he joked. _But seriously though…_

Aria lowered the bottle slowly, her eyes cold and flat like a snake’s. “Then he’ll fit right in on Omega.” 

Reyes raised his hands in a pacifying, whatever-you-say gesture, just as Emari descended the stairs, one datapad in her hand. She gave the datapad to Aria. “It’s got emails to a bunch of petty thieves she was working with,” Emari told Aria, with a cursory glance at Jaya’s cooling corpse. Aria quickly scanned the contents of the datapad with a small shrug. “We’ve got tabs on most of these people already. No matter, we’ll take it anyway.” She handed the datapad back to Emari and tapped at her omni-tool. “Grizz, send two men. We have an informant.” She glanced briefly at Jaya’s unconscious wife. “A light touch should do it.” 

A ripple of revulsion shivered over Reyes’ body, but he forced himself not to register it. _In, one, two, three._ He tried to look around the room in a semblance of boredom, but his eyes kept getting drawn back to the silent child in the corner. The boy’s face was so still and watchful; Reyes felt like he was looking into a mirror of his own past. 

Aria ended her call and turned to Emari. “Keep an eye on her until Grizz arrives. Leave the kid. The Blue Suns can deal with it.” This last sentence was said with a hard look at Reyes, who forced himself to look away from the child to smile cheekily at her. 

Aria rolled her eyes and strode towards the door, gesturing impatiently for Reyes to follow. He forced himself not to look at the kid as he stepped out the door after Aria. Once in the marketplace, she turned to him. “You know how long Jaya worked for me. Length of service means nothing to me. Loyalty and obedience are all that matters.” She gazed at him steadily, her eyes cold as ice, and he felt a wriggle of discomfort in his stomach, like an eel trying to escape. “Keep that in mind when I eventually assign you your own people.” She turned and started to walk away. “You’re free for the night. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she threw over her shoulder, and without awaiting his response, she was gone.

Reyes watched her leave, his emotions torn between vague disgust at her callousness, surprised gratitude that she was considering him for command, and appreciation as he eyed the curves of her ass. He sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his sleek hair. _Thank fuck this day is over._ But he wasn’t able to relax yet; he had to keep up his facade of Aria’s musclebound doofus sidekick until he got home. He quickly peeked back into the destroyed residence and winked roguishly at Emari, who smirked and blushed slightly, then headed slowly and circuitously home via the busiest route. Ever since his run-in with Archangel, he was extra careful to remain in populated areas when he was alone at night, regardless of Aria’s scorn for the vigilante. 

As he walked, hands in his pockets, smiling goofily at merchants and residents alike, his exhausted mind churned over the night’s events: a longtime employee, killed in half a second. A woman who probably knew nothing, about to be tortured. A cold-eyed kid, hardly more than a toddler… who knew what would happen to him. Reyes swallowed. He’d gotten so used to his own sweet life on Omega, had deadened his reactions so much that he’d blinded himself to what the station’s filthy underbelly was really like. Orphaned kids, murders, gang beatings and drug runners: these were all common fare on Omega. When had he stopped seeing this place for what it was? When he started smuggling? When he started killing? When he started sleeping with the murderous pirate queen of Omega? 

_Argh. Whatever. I just need sleep. Tomorrow’s a new day,_ he thought in frustration, running his hand through his hair again. When he finally got home, he poured himself three fingers of whiskey, and in his fatigue, the colour of the amber liquid sloshing into the tumbler was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. _One drink to relax, and then bed._

*****************

Six sleepless hours and two-thirds of a bottle of whiskey later, Reyes walked (remarkably steadily) into Afterlife and strode directly towards the elevators that went up to Aria’s office and private quarters. Anto and Garka were guarding the elevator. Reyes nodded to them both as he strode purposefully to the elevator and hit the button. Garka bumped fists affably with him, but Anto glowered. “Where do you think you’re going?” he growled. 

Reyes shrugged and pointed at the ceiling. “Boss called. Here I am. You know how it is.” He chuckled self-deprecatingly, knowing that his disheveled appearance would work in his favour. In fact, Aria _hadn’t_ called him; Reyes had come here of his own volition because… well, he wasn’t sure what he was doing here. But tossing and turning in his bed hadn’t been doing him any good. His mind had been buzzing with thoughts, and no amount of whiskey or meditation had been able to drown them out. He’d fluctuated between discomfort about Jaya, to a deeper discomfort about her son, to self-disgust about his complacency on Omega. He was forced to recognize that his denials weren’t working so well anymore. _I didn’t have a choice when I first got here - it was ride or die. But staying here this long… I chose to become this person. A smuggler. A torturer. A murderer…_ And underlying it all, he fluctuated between love for Aria and hate for her cruelty. _Wait, love? Why the fuck am I thinking love? I don’t love her. Or do I?..._

The thoughts had been too much. He’d walked straight over here, anger and confusion simmering in his gut, without really knowing why. All he knew was that he wanted to… _I don’t know what the fuck I want to do. Talk to her? Yell at her? Can’t do that, she’ll kill me if she smells weakness. Hit her? I’m not fast enough. Kill her…?_

His thoughts were interrupted as Anto sighed with loud annoyance and the lift door opened. “Go.” Reyes nodded his thanks and stepped into the lift. As soon as the lift doors closed, Reyes hit the button for the penthouse… Aria’s private quarters. 

She had never invited him up to her quarters. They’d always fucked in her office or his apartment (and once on her dais in Afterlife; Reyes was pretty sure some of the staff had witnessed that, but Aria didn’t care). But tonight, with the whiskey heating his blood and his racing thoughts, he didn’t care about protocol or politeness. The lift doors opened and he stepped out, then pinged her omni-tool. 

She didn’t respond, so he ruthlessly pinged her over and over for about five minutes until she answered. “What the _fuck_ do you want?” she demanded, her voice rough with sleep. “Open the door,” he said, noting the coldness of his voice with pride. None of his roiling emotions were audible in his tone. “Excuse me?” she said, her voice practically dripping icicles. Reyes stepped up to the door and banged it once, hard, with his fist. “Open the door,” he repeated.

Aria abruptly ended the call. There was a two-minute pause during which Reyes stood in front of her door, still as a statue, breathing deeply, waiting for her to act. Suddenly, the electric lock turned green, and the door slid open, revealing Aria wearing nothing but a pair of black panties. She stared at him in anger and disbelief. “I didn’t invite you here. The only excuse for you to be here is if Afterlife was burning to the ground. It’s clearly not, so go the fuck home.” She moved her hand to close the door, but Reyes grabbed her by the throat and stepped through the door. 

“You don’t want me to go. Otherwise you’d have called Anto,” he growled, his voice deep and threatening. Aria snarled at him and grabbed his hand at her throat. Reyes gave a gasp of pain and released her as a biotic field wrapped around his hand with a painful crushing pressure. Aria stepped back as Reyes shook his smarting hand, her mostly naked body as arrogantly poised as ever, her right hand glowing biotic blue. 

“Get. Out. Of my quarters,” she said with clear, precise articulation, each word dripping with ice. Reyes looked up at her, his bronze eyes blazing with rage. With predatory speed, he stepped close to her again, grabbing her crest with his left hand and her hip with his right. He roughly pulled her head back, exposing her throat, and simultaneously slid his hand down her hip to cup her ass and pulled her pelvis flush to his. He rubbed his hard cock against her pubis in one smooth motion. She pressed her hands against his chest, her glowing right hand leaving an uncomfortable sensation of pins and needles against his skin, but he ignored this and bit her neck three times, eliciting three gasps from her: once below her thyroid cartilage, once just above, and once just below her ear. Then he whispered in her ear. “I’m not leaving.” 

Aria panted in his ear, then found her voice as she dug her nails ruthlessly into his chest. “You insubordinate piece of shit.” Reyes cut off any further words by pulling the crotch of her panties to the side - she was dripping wet, he noted with dark satisfaction - and plunging a finger inside her. Aria arched her neck and cried out. “Fuck! Fuck you,” she gasped, her fingernails digging harder into his flesh but her biotic glow fading as she thrust her hips against his hand. 

“Yes, you will,” he promised, then started walking her backwards into the room, his left hand still grasping her crest and his right palm flush against her pubis as his finger stroked inside of her. The door whooshed shut behind them as Reyes abruptly released her crest and removed his finger from her pussy. With a bored expression, he examined his right hand; it shone with her moisture. He sucked his finger clean, then looked at up at Aria with a challenging raise of his eyebrow. She was glaring at him, panting hard, her eyes incandescent with lust and rage. She took one angry step towards him, but Reyes stopped her with a strong grip on her jaw. She shoved him in the chest hard with both hands, dislodging his grip on her face, but he’d anticipated her shove and swiftly stepped into her space again until their bodies were touching, and grabbed her jaw again with his left hand. “Kneel,” he commanded. 

Aria’s jaw dropped in blatant disbelief. “How _dare_ you?” she hissed, her voice so venomous that he almost released her. Instead, he tightened his grip and lifted her chin higher. “On your knees. Now,” he repeated, his voice cold and controlled… as cold as Aria’s usually was. Aria reached around him and fisted her hands in his shirt between his shoulders blades, then pulled hard on the shirt, pulling it uncomfortably tight around his neck. “I don’t kneel for anyone, you arrogant little shit,” she spat, as Reyes was forced to draw back slightly from her due to the pressure on his windpipe. Abruptly, he palmed her breast with his right hand, his thumb stroking over her nipple, which pearled instantly under his touch. She gasped and her grip on his shirt lessened. Reyes took advantage of her distraction to pinch her nipple, gratified when she arched her back and slid her hands down to his hips. Swiftly, he pulled off his shirt, revealing his hard bare chest, then shoved her panties down and thrust two fingers back into her sleek heat. Aria arched her back and gasped, her blueberry nipples grazing his hard bronzed pecs, and Reyes lowered his head, taking one nipple in his mouth and suckling hard as he thrust his fingers deeply inside of her. 

Abruptly, he shoved her away again and stood facing her, still and cool, as she gasped for breath, her chest heaving and her legs shamelessly spread. “Kneel. Now,” he said, his voice soft and laced with menace. He ran his gaze over her body, from her hard nipples down to her taut belly and the vee of her thighs, slick and hot with moisture, and felt a thrill of satisfaction at her sharp intake of breath. “Or I _will_ leave.” 

Aria glared at him, her lip curled in rage but her cheeks flushed dark with arousal, her pupils huge and black. Reyes stared coolly at her for five seconds, then shrugged and retrieved his shirt from the floor and turned to leave. He bit back a smile as she suddenly groaned in angry frustration. “I _fucking hate_ you,” she hissed at him, and he turned back towards her to see her dropping to her knees on the floor. 

He almost laughed, but managed to stop himself and maintain his cool facade. This was a victory; a small one, perhaps, but a victory nonetheless. For the first time, he was in control of Aria. He casually walked back over to her, dropping his shirt on the floor, and started to undo his belt as he approached her kneeling form. She impatiently pushed his hands away and whipped off his belt, then swiftly unbuttoned his pants and shoved them down, his erection springing free. Aria grabbed his hips, but just before her parted lips touched his cock, he stopped her with a firm hand on her chin. “Hands only,” he ordered her. The look she gave him - the look that said he was the stupidest person she’d ever known - was familiar and weirdly dear to him, and at this moment his raging hard-on was inclined to agree with her facial expression, but he needed to maintain his control over her. “Hands. Only,” he repeated, his voice hard. Aria shook her head in disbelief, but importantly, she obeyed: her left hand stroked and massaged his balls, and she spat on her right hand then stroked it along the length of his cock. 

Reyes shuddered and closed his eyes at the feel of her hands, and the thought of her eager mouth. _Just hold on a minute more,_ he told himself, forcing himself to hold off on the screaming voice of his id that told him to accept her mouth and throat. Aria’s hand pumped up and down, and Reyes could hear her desperate panting. Finally, he opened his eyes, and with a voice tight with lust, he issued his next command. “Suck my cock. Now.” 

Aria instantly obeyed, grabbing his ass with both hands and sliding her lips slowly along his length, swirling her tongue around him as she slid down towards the hilt. Reyes gasped and gently held the sides of her face, his fingers gently but firmly guiding her up and down the length of his cock. “Deeper,” he grunted, and Aria obeyed again, raising herself higher on her knees so she could take him into her throat all the way to the base of his shaft, her lips brushing against his dark curls of hair. Reyes tilted his head back and closed his eyes in bliss. He allowed himself to enjoy the hot, smooth pressure of her throat for a minute more before taking control again. 

Reluctantly, he stepped away from Aria, pulling his cock from her mouth, and grabbed the back of her neck roughly, pulling her to her feet. She grabbed his hips, pulling his pelvis towards hers, and wrapped one leg around his waist, rubbing her sleek wet groin against his hard cock. “Fuck me _right now_ , Reyes. _Now_ ,” she commanded, her voice hard and fierce. 

Reyes laughed - a cold, mocking sound - and shoved her leg off of his waist, then roughly grabbed her hips and spun her so she was facing away from him. He wrapped one arm around her neck from behind and pulled her back against his chest. “Don’t tell me what to do,” he hissed into her ear. She jerked her head away from his mouth and snarled, then gasped as he reached around her and abruptly cupped her pussy with his other hand, his finger dipping just slightly between her lips. “You get three chances. If you try to command me three more times, I’ll go out that door and I won’t come back. Understood?” 

Aria made an angry sound, somewhere between a growl and a screech of rage, and Reyes decided to take this as assent. “Good,” he said silkily, removing his arms from around her. He took hold of the back of her neck again with his left hand and pushed her in the direction of an elegant black desk against one wall. The desk was sparsely occupied with a datapad and a few bottles and jars of cosmetics. Reyes unceremoniously shoved these items off the desk with his right arm. He could feel the muscles of Aria’s neck tense in rage. “You motherfucker,” she expostulated. Reyes slid his left hand from her neck to cover her mouth, and firmly pushed her down towards the desk with his right hand until she was bent over the desk, her breasts and cheek flush to the black synthwood. “Shhhh,” he whispered with dangerous gentleness as he released her mouth, knowing his gentle tone would only enrage her further. Sure enough, she took a deep breath, no doubt to lambaste him, but before she could speak, he slid his right hand over her bottom and between her thighs, then ran one finger firmly from her clit down along the length of her labia. 

Aria jerked and slammed her palms on the desk. Reyes swiftly placed his left hand firmly on her shoulder blade to hold her still and nudged her legs wider with his knee. He grasped his hard shaft and slid the head of his cock up and down along her slick labia, gently grazing her clit, purposely teasing her. Aria panted, her fingernails gouging half-moons into the desk. Reyes bit his lip, ignoring his body’s urge to plunge into her, teasingh her until she was gasping for breath, the muscles of her back straining against his hand; then, finally, he positioned himself at her centre and thrust into her. 

“Fuck yes!” Aria screamed, bucking her hips back to take him deeper. “Don’t move,” he snapped, pushing more firmly on her shoulder blade with his left hand as he withdrew slowly, then swiftly thrust back into her. Aria slammed her palm on the desk in ecstasy, then tried to turn her head to look at him. “You are _such_ an asshole,” she shouted, then gasped and moaned as he thrust deeply into her and ground his pelvis in small circles against her bottom. 

Reyes swiftly bent over her, his lips at her ear. “But a handsome one, right?” he purred, and was rewarded by her angry hiss. “One day,” she gritted, then gasped as he thrust into her - “one day your cocky attitude will get you in trouble. _Fuck!_ Someone on Omega will try and slit your throat. And I - oh _goddess!_ \- I won’t lift a fucking finger to help you,” she yelled, her cheeks flushed with rage but her ass thrusting back to meet the pounding rhythm of his cock. Reyes straightened and slowly withdrew from her pussy to resume teasing the length of her labia with the head of his cock. “Is that so?” he said, his voice cold and amused as he gently stroked her crest - the way a person might stroke a pet. 

Naturally, this only served to make Aria even angrier. “Don’t you fucking touch me,” she commanded, reaching up to try and shove his hand away. Reyes pulled his pelvis away from her, his left hand still keeping her prone on the desk. “That’s one,” he said, his voice chillingly cold and controlled. “Two more commands, and I’m leaving.” He waited patiently while she slammed her palms - now glowing biotic blue - on the desk, breathing hard with rage. After a long, tense ten seconds, her biotics abated, and her back and neck muscles relaxed under his palm. He realized with sudden amusement - and surprise - that she was using meditative breathing to control herself. This was the first time he’d actually ever witnessed her using the technique. _She’s one of us after all,_ he thought with dark amusement. “Good girl,” he taunted, then stepped close to her again and slammed his cock deep into her. 

Aria cried out and ran her own hand across the back of her neck in ecstasy, her nails scoring dark blue lines into her skin. Reyes noted this with interest, and while maintaining his thrusting, he curled the fingers of his left hand and slowly scratched his nails down her back as he slowly pushed inside of her. “Yes - goddess, _yes!_ ” Aria cried, arching her back as much as she could while bent over the desk. Her cry of uninhibited pleasure, and the erotic sight of Omega’s omnipotent ruler prostrate before him, brought him close to his peak. He picked up speed, thrusting fast and hard into her, his breaths coming short and sharp as his pleasure built. 

Aria’s was also gasping for breath, her fists clenched so tightly they were almost white. Suddenly she cried out. “Rub my clit! Rub my clit now-” She bit her lip, but it was too late; Reyes stopped mid-thrust, even though his body and his rising climax screamed at him to continue. “That’s two,” he gritted, his voice strained with denied lust. “Be very fucking careful, Aria.” Unable to resist the invitation of her hot, wet pussy, he resumed his relentless pounding. With each thrust and each gasp from her lush lips, Reyes imagined he was punishing her: punishing her for making him her slave, for turning him into a monster, for making him kill his own colleagues, for making him not care about killing… for making him want her, for making him fall under her spell. A minute later, he gasped and groaned as his orgasm broke, waves of pleasure washing over him as he enjoyed his release. 

However, Reyes was far from finished with her. He knew Aria hadn’t come; he’d purposely forbidden her from climaxing, knowing it would make her hostile - even more hostile than she already was. Sure enough, as he withdrew from her, she pushed off the desk and spun to face him, her eyes sparking with rage and denied lust. She advanced towards him and grabbed his throat with both hands, then walked him forcefully back towards the bed. Reyes could practically see the commands at the tip of her tongue as she glared at him. He forced himself to stare back at her, ignoring the threat of her hands squeezing his throat, and kept his face neutral and cold, his eyebrows raised in challenge. Aria stared at him, enraged, and shook her head in disbelief as she read in his face that he wasn’t kidding: he would leave if one more command left her mouth. She snarled audibly, and Reyes couldn’t help but smile as she abruptly started swearing at him instead - swearing loudly and colourfully. “You selfish son of a fucking whore. Vorcha-fucking, necrotic piece-of-shit smuggler. You unwashed asshole!” 

Reyes laughed, genuinely amused, then forcefully pried her hands away from his throat and grabbed her by the chin. He kissed her hard on the mouth, then pulled away, his hand still on her chin, and smiled smugly at her snarling face. “Shut the fuck up,” he said conversationally, then grabbed her arms and turned quickly, throwing her onto her back on the bed. Swiftly, he bent down and picked up her discarded panties from the floor; then, as she continued cursing loudly and inventively, he quickly kneeled beside her and captured her hands in each of his, forcing her hands above her head. He wrestled with her hands until her wrists were both gripped in his left hand, swiftly transferring her panties to his right hand. “Shut your mouth,” he barked, shaking her wrists roughly and cutting her off. “The only words I want you to say are ‘please, Reyes’. If you can’t say that, I’ll gag you until you’re ready.” 

Aria laughed nastily, her voice voice rough with unsatisfied lust. “Fuck you, you arrogant, entitled _child_ ,” she said viciously. Reyes smiled down at her - a cold, reptilian smile that he knew was the mirror image of Aria’s own. “Wrong answer,” he said silkily, and gently stuffed Aria’s balled-up panties into her mouth, just far enough to muffle her speech. He nodded with satisfaction as she gave a muffled screech of rage, reassuring him that her airway was clear. Without further ado, he dipped his head and stroked his tongue over her right breast. 

Aria’s back arched gracefully in response, her nipples firm, and Reyes heard her sharp intake of breath through her nose. He continued teasing her right nipple with his tongue, and with his free right hand, he gently stroked his fingers down her sternum and swept underneath her left breast, stroking the plump underside of her breast and around her dark areola, but never directly touching the nipple. Aria’s back arched like a bow and she moaned, the sound muffled by her panties. Reyes then slid his right hand down over her belly, then smoothed along her left hip and leg. Aria lifted her hips in wordless supplication, and Reyes kissed her left nipple gently before slowly sliding his hand up the inside of her left thigh, then stroked the soft, slick skin at the juncture of her thighs. Aria moaned in frustration, bucking her hips, and Reyes ever-so-gently slid one finger down along the taut nub of her clit. Aria gave a smothered cry, then gasped desperately as Reyes withdrew his touch. She thrashed her head back and forth on the bed, arching her back and bucking her hips like a wild animal. Reyes grinned to himself and gently stroked her clit again with one finger. He continued his torturous pattern - a gentle stroke, a light nip of the breast - until Aria’s panting and bucking became more frantic and her moans took on a desperate note. 

After a couple of minutes, Reyes gently removed the panties from Aria’s mouth. She panted rapidly, her breasts heaving with her sharp breaths and her hips bucking compulsively. Reyes smiled coldly at her. “Do you have something to say to me?” he purred, and ever-so-gently ran the tip of his index finger over her clit one more time. Aria glared daggers at him, but Reyes ignored her intimidation, and with a feather-light touch he ran his finger in a circle around her clit. “Nothing to say?” he teased. Aria slammed her head back on the bed, her wrists straining under his grip. Then finally, _finally,_ the words passed her lips in a reluctant growl: “Please, Reyes.” 

Reyes laughed, a dark, satisfied sound, then released her wrists and abruptly slid down to the foot of the bed and buried his face in her pussy. Aria cried out in ecstasy, bucking her hips against his face. He gripped her thighs firmly to keep her still and swirled his tongue around and over her clit in a firm, smooth pattern. He smoothly slid two fingers inside her and swirled them in a firm circle, and almost immediately, he felt her inner thighs twitch with impending orgasm. At the moment that she gave a great gasp, right before her climax, Reyes stroked his fingers in a come-hither motion, hitting her G-spot and making her scream with pleasure as she came. 

As soon as he felt Aria’s thighs relax, the tension and spasms of her climax abating, he rose to his feet and wiped his face with one hand, then kneeled on the bed and kissed her cruelly on the lips, biting her lower lip harder than was pleasurable. To his surprise and confusion, she kissed him back passionately, arching her back to push her breasts towards him, her tongue stroking against his and her hand flying up to cradle his neck firmly but not angrily. He pulled away from the kiss and studied her face briefly: her face was relaxed, her pupils were large and dark, and though her lips were pursed, the corners of her lips were turned up, as though she was fighting a smile. She quirked one eyebrow at him, and the tiny gesture elicited a wave of affection and despair in his chest. He’d felt confident, controlled and powerful while taking her from behind, but all of that control was shattered when the pirate queen raised one eyebrow at him. _I hate you,_ he thought with helpless angst as he pushed off from the bed abruptly and retrieved his clothes from the floor. As he swiftly dressed, he couldn’t help but think of that old adage: _hate isn’t the opposite of love; indifference is._ Agitatedly, he ran his fingers through his hair and slicked it back. Just before he left, he half-turned towards her, unwilling to make eye contact with her; she was still lying on the bed, her eyes closed now and her arms crossed behind her head, looking for all the world like a relaxed lioness. “I’ll see you at 09:00,” he threw over his shoulder, his voice cold and businesslike, then stepped out, not waiting for her response. 

As Reyes walked home, he mulled over the events of the past couple hours. In the space of a few hours, he felt like his brain had been recalibrated. He’d realized that, against his better judgment, and his determination to just be business and sex partners, somehow the worst had happened, and he couldn’t deny it anymore: he’d fallen hard for Aria T’Loak, was hopelessly ensnared in her seductive, dangerous web. But he also now knew he had to get away from her: not for the goddamned Alliance who had abandoned him, but for himself.

Reyes still felt grateful to Aria for things he could never admit to anyone else. His time with her had given voice to a darkness inside himself that he’d never have acknowledged if not for her. He’d never have found his calling in smuggling and illicit information brokering without the opportunities she’d given him (or forced on him?), and despite his ongoing discomfort about torture and killing, he actually considered these to be useful skills, particularly the ability to withstand torture. But most of all, Aria had seen _something_ in him worth investing in. Despite her coldness and mocking, she had taken him on, trained him, and eventually trusted him - inasmuch as Aria T’Loak trusted anyone.

But his time on Omega had changed him for the worse. In the space of one day, he’d tortured someone, killed a colleague, and left an orphaned kid in the slums without hardly thinking twice about it. He needed to get out before he no longer recognized the problems with doing things Aria’s way... before he became her.

He didn’t think he could kill her. She was too smart, too fast and brutal, too experienced; she’d see him coming from a kilometre away. Besides, the thought of extinguishing her vibrant, violent nature made the bile rise in his throat. But now, he knew how to get the best of her. She governed with an iron fist and a cold, calculating facade… but now, after tonight, he knew her weakness. He knew how to make her vulnerable. 

_Make her lose her temper._

**********************

Two weeks passed by. Aria had been hard on Reyes for several days after his intrusion into her private quarters. She’d made him work extra long hours doing rudimentary bitch tasks for Anto and Grizz that he hadn’t had to do since he’d been a new recruit, in addition to his usual smuggling consultant duties. Grizz had smirked at him when he’d shown up for errand duty at 07:00 for three days in a row. “What’d you do to piss her off?” he laughed, and Reyes had grimaced and shrugged as though he had no idea. 

She’d been particularly punishing during sex, so much so that he’d had to go to Mordin for treatment on two occasions: once for a sprained wrist (she’d refused to cool off her biotics) and once for a series of shallow knife slices along the length of his ribs (it had almost felt good at the time - _almost_ \- but he’d regretted it immediately after, and she’d refused him medigel). 

Mordin had eyed the cuts with a critical eye. “Shallow. Won’t need stitches. Proper cleaning to avoid infection; medigel and bandages.” Briskly, he cleaned the cuts with saline and treated them. To Reyes’ shock and embarrassment, Mordin suddenly said, “Recommend reconsidering sexual relationship with Aria. Sexual dalliance can be useful as stress relief, but with Aria, likely to bring further stress and physical injury.” 

Reyes ducked his head, furious at the warmth in his cheeks. “What- this wasn’t… It happened in a fight…” _Why do I even bother trying to lie to Mordin?_ Reyes thought in exasperation as the doctor looked at Reyes and blinked placidly. “Wounds from fight would be deeper stabs. Can’t hide the objective truth of clinical examination.” Mordin started to clear away the detritus of Reyes’ treatment. 

Reyes rubbed the back of his head, still feeling embarrassed. Then he looked at Mordin curiously. “How did you know that it was… er… Aria?” he mumbled. 

Mordin looked at Reyes, and there was a hint of amusement lifting the corners of the salarian doctor’s eyes. “Told you before: have known Aria for years.” Reyes gaped at the salarian doctor; there was a definite smirk on his amphibian face now. _Wait - what??_ But before Reyes could probe any further, Mordin’s face snapped back to its usual professionalism. “Treatment is complete. Full recovery anticipated in 2 hours. No need to keep bandage on overnight. Will bill Aria on your behalf.” He nodded a brisk goodbye and left the room. 

Reyes stared in amazement and amusement at Mordin’s slender back as he left, then shook his head and left the clinic, headed in the direction of the barracks. It was 20:37, and Anto had asked him to demo at the fight club that evening with a new batch of recruits. Reyes vaguely hoped that he wouldn’t make too poor a showing with his knife wounds, but his ribs were already feeling better from Mordin’s ministrations. 

“Vidal?” Suddenly there was a hand on Reye’s left arm and a male voice in his ear. The voice sounded disbelieving and unthreatening, but Reyes automatically jerked his arm away, his right hand swiftly resting on the Suppressor hanging at his hip as he turned to face the person hailing him. His mind stuttered with shock as he recognized the man facing him. 

The man, who also looked openly amazed as he stared at Reyes, was named Connor Chen, and he was Alliance. Reyes and Connor had joined the recon forces around the same time, and they’d actually been on multiple missions together. Reyes had never been close enough to anyone in the Alliance to call them a friend, but he had respected Connor greatly as a recon agent and colleague, and had partaken in drinks with him many times. Connor grinned at him. “Vidal! Goddamn - what on Earth…?” Connor grabbed Reyes in a hug, pounding him on the back; Reyes was too stunned to resist, and reciprocated the embrace. Connor drew back and stared at Reyes, his face painted with disbelief and then confusion as he took in Reyes’ appearance: his suave, slicked-back hair, his casual sand-coloured pants and lightly armoured jacket, his illegally moded Suppressor pistol. “Vidal, what are you doing here? The Alliance designated you KIA about 9 months ago! Everyone thinks you’re dead!” 

Reyes’ mind raced through the implications of what Connor’s sudden appearance on Omega could mean. He was still determined to get off Omega, but he hadn’t gotten any further than vague ideas. He’d been poring through his options, thinking through his extensive list of business and smuggling contacts, as well as whether he could trust any of Aria’s people, but nothing watertight had presented itself yet. It didn’t help that Aria had kept him run ragged for the past two weeks and unable to think of much else but work. But Connor’s unexpected appearance… _This could change things,_ Reyes thought with a sudden surge of excitement - and a small pang of sorrow as he thought of Aria, but he pushed that away.

Reyes grinned back at Connor and took his arm, surreptitiously leading him to one of the quieter beer-and-chips booths in the market. He tapped the bar and held up two fingers wordlessly to the quarian vendor, who nodded briskly. Connor watched this exchange with surprise, and the gradual return of professional concern… and mild suspicion. “You’ve been here for a while, eh? You move like a local, you look like a local... What are you _doing_ here?”

The vendor slid over two beers, and Reyes nodded a quick thanks. He lowered his voice and leaned in close to Connor. “I’m here on an intel mission,” he said. “Got sent here almost a year ago. Things went south, but I’m still on the mission.” He sipped from his beer, not breaking eye contact with Connor.

Connor nodded, gazing intensely at Reyes. “When are you expected back on the Citadel?” he asked. Reyes knew that Connor was too subtle and intelligent to ask outright, but he was obviously dying to know who had sent Reyes, especially if Reyes was on an active mission but considered KIA by the Alliance. Reyes shook his head slightly and sipped his beer again. “Can’t say. I’m getting closer, but could be some months yet.” He knocked his knuckles on the bar twice and shook his head with a sigh.

“Damn. Well, it’s good to see you, man. I’m just here on shore leave,” Connor said casually. Reyes and Connor both knew this wasn’t true; Alliance people never came to Omega without a mission. “But hey,” Connor continued, as though the thought had just occurred to him, “Let me know if you want to meet up in the next day or two to catch up - I’m here until our shuttle leaves at 17:30 on Thursday. Do you have my contact information?” 

“No, it’s been a few years - send it over,” Reyes replied, and the two men pulled up their omni-tools. “That’s my omni-tool, and the shuttle code in case you can’t reach me,” Connor said cheerfully as they tapped at their tools. “Listen, I gotta catch up with the rest of my crew, but I hope I see you again! It’s been too long, man.” Connor chugged his beer and pulled Reyes into another embrace. 

“Yeah, for sure - I’ll call you up. See you later.” Reyes casually turned back to the counter as Connor walked away and leisurely finished his beer while he checked his emails. All the while, his heart was racing. There had been much more to his interaction with Connor than was visible to the untrained eye, and Reyes had to make sure no one knew it. He slowly sipped his beer and chatted with the quarian vendor until there were just a few gulps left, then finished the beer off and headed to Afterlife at a relaxed pace. There was no way that Aria didn’t know about the Alliance ship on her turf, and he had to tell her his version of the meeting with Connor before anyone else did. 

***************************

Aria watched Reyes carefully, her arm dangling lazily along the back of the couch and masking her usual sharp level of alertness. “And he didn’t question your story at all,” she said, more a statement than a question. 

Reyes shook his head, his face confident. His hands were tucked in his pockets and his posture was gracefully relaxed, his weight shifted to one hip. Aria couldn’t detect any signs of nervousness or tension in his posture. “Alliance recon berks are trained to stick to the short and sweet. He thinks I’m on some super-classified mission, so he’ll keep his mouth shut.” Reyes raised one eyebrow in disdain. 

Aria continued to study him, her eye narrowed suspiciously. _Should I believe him?_ Ever since Reyes had shown up at her private quarters unannounced two weeks ago, she had felt a bit more suspicious of him, a bit more wary in his presence. She had to admit that he wasn’t acting any differently than usual: he was as professional as ever most of the time, annoyingly flirtatious at other times, and never questioned her authority or orders. But still… she felt _off_ about him since that one time in her quarters. She hadn’t given over any kind of power to anyone in any context in years, not since… _Forget about her,_ Aria sternly told herself. _She’s gone from the station and she is not coming back._

Finally, Aria sniffed dismissively and lifted her chin. “Fine. Go report to Anto. He’s waiting for you.” 

Reyes nodded and stepped down the dais, but turned back at the bottom. “What do you want me to do about Chen’s invitation to meet? Do you need any Alliance intel? Or should I stay away from him?”

Aria sighed and thought about it. It could be a useful opportunity, but she was more concerned with goings-on on Omega than about Citadel space right now. She waved her hand dismissively. “Stay away from him. Carry on as usual.” She pulled up her omni-tool and tapped at it, dismissing Reyes. 

Reyes gave a little wave then sauntered off, cracking some joke to one of her guards and making him laugh as he walked away. _Cocky bastard,_ she thought idly to herself as she approved some armour requisitions and sent out some non-urgent assignments by email. She had to admit that he was operating completely normally, but something about him just nagged at her. Aria took a deep breath, swiped away one last email, then stood and stretched, twisting her spine. _I’ll just keep a close eye on him. Observe him carefully… anything suspicious and I’ll get Anto on him._ Slowly, she approached the balcony and looked down at Afterlife, and allowed herself a rare moment to just enjoy the thumping beats, flashing lights and undulating bodies in her bar. Considering that she was the boss of Omega, she didn’t feel like she got to enjoy it very often. 

**********************

Four days later, in the very early hours of the morning, Reyes sat at the kitchenette counter in his apartment and opened the package he’d picked up from the barracks earlier that night. The package contained some ancient music storage devices called records, very valuable now despite their terrible sound quality; a fashionable and cutting-edge lightly armoured jacket that dispersed energy across its surface; five vintage issues of Fornax; six black t-shirts… and an unregistered omni-tool of a very old model. Reyes had used his smuggling contacts to their fullest extent to procure this weird arrangement of items, with the omni-tool being the only one that mattered; all the other items except the t-shirts were legitimately for clients on Omega. The omni-tool had passed through at least five different users and was so old that it hardly did anything but receive emails and messages. As such, it didn't need to be laparoscopically inserted under the skin or synced with the nervous system like a modern omni-tool. It didn’t even take vid calls or have GPS/localization services… and this made it perfect for Reyes’ needs. 

Reyes pulled up his modern omni-tool and opened the contact info Chen had sent him three days ago. The ‘shuttle code’ was actually a code for an encrypted channel to Chen’s omni-tool. He entered the code and waited patiently for the connection to establish. Within minutes, the shitty omni-tool's holoscreen flickered glitchily to life and Reyes received a message from Connor: _Let me know what you need._

Reyes sat thinking for many long minutes. What _did_ he need, more than anything? Reyes figured that he could probably find a way off the station, eventually… But that wouldn’t do him any good if Aria’s wrath could follow him out of the system and across the cluster. But where the fuck could he go? He was blacklisted by the Alliance, especially if Connor found out his mission wasn’t active anymore; the Citadel wouldn’t help him. There were geth on the outer edges of the Milky Way. He thought long and hard, then he typed a reply. 

_Somewhere to escape to._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Ahhh Mordin. He's such a dark horse. LOL.
> 
> Lots of love and thanks to anyone who's stuck with Reyes and Aria this far! I know this isn't the most popular combination of characters, but I'm really enjoying writing it and I'm SO grateful to anyone who's decided to read along.
> 
> Thanks as always for any comments!


	10. Favours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes starts quietly building his own network of contacts, and makes a new friend... but unfortunately, Aria's suspicions are roused. 
> 
> A/N: No smut this time; all plot. Sorry guys. :P

_Escape, eh? Might have an idea. I’ll contact you with details when I get them._

Two weeks passed without Reyes hearing anything more from Connor. Reyes wasn’t worried; he knew that his vague demand was a big ask, and he had been frankly surprised that Connor had thought of anything at all. 

So Reyes waited. His daily routine remained unchanged; he worked for Aria, participated in the fight club, went for drinks with Garka and the other guards, smiled and made small talk in the market, and bought new furniture for his apartment. He tortured thieves and killed would-be usurpers without blinking an eye, and slept with Emari occasionally and Aria frequently. 

But gradually, casually, he began preparing for his escape.

Now that Reyes had a lead - however tenuous - on _where_ to escape to, he needed to start thinking about _how_. One of the most important things that Aria had on Omega was her incredibly wide-ranging network of agents and employees, so Reyes needed to start building his own network of influence… but very, very subtly. So he went back to his roots: he collected intel. In the barracks at mealtimes, or at Afterlife during drinks, or while trading in the market, Reyes listened, observed, and watched... and waited for opportunities.

He found his first opportunity while eating dinner with some of the guards and recruits at the barracks one evening before fight club. Vannus, a turian who had been working for Aria for years before Reyes’ arrival, was lamenting how he'd lost two weeks’ worth of wages in a varren fight bet. “It was supposed to be a solid bet! But this fucking monster varren they brought out… man, the fight was done within a minute. This Urz monster tore the throat from the one I was betting on like it was paper.” Vannus shook his head in lament. “The wife’s gonna kill me.” 

“You got a kid too, don't you? Weren’t you trying to get her into a private school on Thessia?” Cassius cackled.

Vannus shoved him. “Nice, real nice. Yeah, I got a kid, thanks for being a dick about it.” Vannus sighed and rubbed his mandible in agitation. “Seriously, Narissa’s going to throttle me. This isn't the first time…” he trailed off despondently. Reyes perked up as he listened. _He needs something, but wouldn’t ask; he’s sentimental. I can use this._

The others at their table sniggered at Vannus or patted his arm in mild sympathy. Once their attention had drifted to other conversations, Reyes leaned in to Vannus. “Sounds like a tough situation. There is no wrath like an asari’s wrath.” 

“You’re telling me,” Vannus groaned, running his hands over his face. Reyes chuckled, then leaned back. “Listen. I hate to see a friend in need. I’ll give you a loan. You can pay me back in two months.” He drank deeply from his beer, then raised an eyebrow at Vannus.

Vannus stared at him, hope and suspicion warring on his face. The hope was what Reyes was looking for. “You’d do that? Why?” Reyes elbowed Vannus companionably and sipped his beer. “You look like shit and you’re no fun when you’re moping.” Vannus coughed out a startled laugh. Reyes smiled back, then gave a smug wave of his hand. “Beside, I have more credits than I know what to do with. Smuggling on this station has never been more lucrative.” 

Vannus rolled his eyes, his mandibles flaring with exasperation. Finally, he sighed and gave Reyes a long look. Reyes raised his eyebrows in a take-it-or-leave-it kind of expression. Vannus sighed. “Okay. That’s… really cool of you, Reyes. Thanks.” 

Reyes waved his hand dismissively and swiped a deposit of credits to Vannus’ omni-tool. “You better pay me back though. Or I’ll start charging interest.” Vannus laughed, his whole demeanour relaxing. He was so transparently manipulable that Reyes almost felt sorry for him. “You’ll get it back as soon as possible, I promise,” Vannus said fervently, turning back to his food with renewed enthusiasm. Reyes smiled and sipped his beer. _One for the list,_ he thought with satisfaction.

In a similar vein, Reyes began quietly and innocuously collecting gratitude and small favours from other members of Aria’s crew, as well as other various acquaintances and even mercenaries on the station. His affable-doofus persona actually helped him in some respects; since he was already thought of on the station as being unusually friendly for a place like Omega, but was also known widely as one of Aria’s enforcers, it wasn’t unusual for him to casually chat with everyone and anyone, and he was automatically owed some modicum of politeness. He was able to soothe suspicions with charm or arrogance. Eventually, word of his ability to help with special favours began to spread among the little people on Omega… but never quite made its way to Aria. Within the space of about two months, Reyes had collected a neat, quiet little network of thankful Omegans whom he’d helped with various tasks or favours, without asking anything in particular in return… relying mainly on their memory that he had helped them. 

Aria’s suspicions were finally roused when Reyes ‘helped’ one of Afterlife’s dancers, a young human woman named Karine who had started working at Afterlife a few months ago. One night while idly watching her dance, he noticed that she was favouring her left arm when twirling around the pole. Days later, he heard two waitresses talking in low voices about Karine’s ‘scumbag father’. And from a raunchy post-one-night-stand conversation he’d overheard in the barracks a week or so ago, Reyes knew that Karine lived in the Blue Suns-controlled slum. Reyes had some legitimate access to Aria’s personnel files and knew that Karine wasn’t paid very much. He put the pieces together quickly: Karine lived with an abusive father and couldn’t afford to move out of his home. _She’s hard enough to dance on Omega, but too gentle to escape an abusive family member… And well-placed in the heart of Afterlife to help me out in a pinch,_ he thought. 

So Reyes bought an essentially worthless, older-model used omni-tool in the market and illegally moded it with a melee weapon minifacturer. Then, one evening as Karine was finishing her shift, he casually approached the bar where she was dancing and gestured for her to approach. A small, sexy smile lit Karine’s lips as she sinuously slid off the bar to stand beside him. “Reyes. How are you?” she dimpled. Close up, Reyes could see through her makeup to the purple-and-yellow mark of a fading bruise on her right temple and upper cheekbone. 

Reyes smiled down at her. “Much better now that I watched your set,” he purred, and Karine gave a throaty laugh. Reyes reached into his jacket pocket and handed her a small box. “I hear you’ve been a dancer here for four months today. Congratulations,” he smirked. 

Karine took the box, her lips curled in a smile but her eyes suddenly suspicious. Reyes nodded encouragingly, and Karine slowly opened the box. Inside was the hardware for the illegally-moded omni-tool. Karine looked at it, then up at him, still suspicious, one eyebrow raised. 

Reyes sipped from his tumbler of whiskey. “It produces omni-blades,” he told her bluntly. “Every dancer should be able to protect herself. Not all men are perfect gentlemen like me.” He gave her a slow, charming smile, noting with satisfaction as the suspicion melted from her face, leaving vulnerability behind. She looked up at him, her eyes shining. “How…?” 

Reyes reached over and tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her right ear, his fingers gently brushing the healing bruise. He looked at her, his face suddenly intense. “Have a good night, Karine.” Without another word, he shot the rest of his whiskey, saluted the bartender, and turned to go… but Karine grabbed his arm, pulling him back towards her, and kissed him on the lips. Reyes stiffened, not expecting the kiss; this would definitely draw attention that he didn’t want. But he didn’t pull away, not wanting to offend her. When she released him, she whispered against his lips. “Thank you.” Reyes smiled slowly, chucked her chin gently, and left, feeling slightly nervous. 

A week later, news of a dead body in the Blue Suns’ territory filtered up to Reyes: a middle-aged man had apparently sliced his own wrists in bed one night and was found by his daughter, who lived with him. The daughter, being his only family, took possession of the man’s residence and assets. Suicides weren’t particularly common on Omega, but deaths were no big deal, and the news received little interest… except to a satisfied Reyes Vidal, who also noticed around this time that all the dancers at Afterlife started smiling at him, and the waitresses started bringing him free drinks. 

Unfortunately, none of this escaped Aria’s notice. She called Reyes to her dais after two nights of watching the staff fawning over him. “I hear you’re the new do-gooder on the station,” she said silkily, but her eyes were hard. “Karine seems to have fallen upon some good fortune.” 

Reyes sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well… we’re sleeping together,” he lied, with a convincing semblance of embarrassment. Karine’s unexpected kiss would help him reinforce this lie. “She asked for help. Didn’t want to bloody my own hands.” 

Aria pursed her lips and contemplated him. “Hmm. That’s very sentimental of you, Reyes.” Her cold blue eyes bored into his, as penetrating as an x-ray. “I thought you knew better than that.” 

Reyes gazed back at her steadily, ignoring the heightening of his pulse. “Consider it a business investment as well, Aria. Your people put time into training her. She can’t dance with broken limbs and bruises. And if your dancers have a reputation for fierceness… well then, they are a worthy representation of their boss.” He bowed his head briefly to her in a respectful gesture. 

Aria slowly leaned back on the couch and crossed her legs, her eyes still fixed on him suspiciously. _Smooth… very smooth. And correct as well, the canny little fucker,_ she thought. After another minute of simply examining him, during which he gazed steadily back at her, shifting his weight slightly (but no more than the average person), she pursed her lips and waved her hand dismissively. “Go.” Reyes gave a small nod and left. 

Aria drummed her fingers on the back of the couch, thinking carefully. _I don’t trust him,_ she thought. She ignored the tiny pang she felt at the thought; exactly as she had told Reyes, there was no space for sentimentality here. Something was off. She couldn’t pinpoint what exactly, but she sensed that her grip on him was slipping. She gestured for Anto to approach. He was at her side in seconds. “Put someone on Reyes,” she said quietly. “I want to know what he’s up to.” 

Anto - loyal, obedient Anto - nodded briskly without batting an eyelash. “Yes, Aria.” He strode away - quite eagerly, Aria thought with a hint of dark amusement. Anto had never warmed to Reyes. She leaned back on the couch and lifted the datapad she'd been distracted from. _Soon I'll know if he's been plotting,_ she thought, forcing her attention back to the datapad. Until then, she has other, more important things to do than worry about cocky little Reyes Vidal.

**************  
Reyes headed back to his apartment at a leisurely pace, forcing himself to look casual and relaxed. He was not at all convinced that Aria believed his story about Karine, but he needed to keep acting normally to throw her off, or at least to delay any confrontation by acting ignorant. 

He unlocked his apartment door and stepped inside, fully intending to pour himself a fortifying whiskey. He locked the door and turned around - and froze. Actually, he tried to move, but couldn't. A flickering of purple energy encircled his limbs. _A fucking stasis web,_ he thought with a surge of panic. Aria taking him out to play it safe rather than sorry?

As he tried fruitlessly to move his limbs, a polyphonic, feminine voice wafted from one dark corner of his lounging area. “I'm not here to hurt you.” 

Reyes stopped struggling, his senses still on high alert but curious now. _A turian? But… doesn’t explain the stasis web._ Reyes saw a flicker of movement from the lounge area as a tall figure rose from the sofa, then approached him and flicked on the light switch in the kitchen. 

The sudden light illuminated his uninvited guest: a female turian wearing black casual garb and a cowl, her features obscured mysteriously by a large hood. Her body language didn’t seem hostile, and she was unarmoured (though not necessarily unarmed). Reyes raised his chin, his face neutral. “How did you get in here?” he demanded imperiously.

“I hacked your lock, I’m afraid. Aria’s not the only one willing to use dirty tactics… But I usually try to avoid bloodshed.” The turian’s voice was melodious and earnest, and immediately made Reyes suspicious. “Keeping me in stasis doesn’t inspire much confidence,” he retorted. 

The turian chuckled, then pushed back her hood. She had pale gray skin, white faceplates, and a very notable lack of facepaint. _Rebelling against tradition,_ Reyes thought. _Or... an outcast?_ The corners of her beautiful, catlike green eyes crinkled as her mandibles flared in a small smile. “Then why don’t I introduce myself, and you can decide whether I’m a threat or not.” She raised her right hand - a hand glowing purple with biotic power, Reyes noted with astonishment - and closed her fist, releasing him from stasis. 

He watched her warily as she introduced herself. “My name is Nyreen Kandros. I’m… an acquaintance of Aria’s. I know you work for her… but I’ve been watching you the past few months. I see you’ve been building a network of your own contacts.” Nyreen tilted her head to the side, and a shiver of wary trepidation ran down Reyes’ spine at how much this unknown woman knew. “Are you planning a coup?”

“No,” Reyes answered immediately. After all, it was true: he had no interest in overthrowing Aria. Then he immediately mentally kicked himself for giving information to this stranger. Annoyed at himself, he turned to his minibar and picked up his bottle of Macallan. Over his shoulder, he said, “I’d offer you a drink, but I don’t have anything dextro.”

Nyreen laughed softly. “That’s alright. Listen, Reyes.” He tensed; he hadn’t told her his name. “I’ve been watching you. You’ve been helping people on Omega. That’s not typical behaviour for one of Aria’s cronies.” 

“I’m not some vigilante Robin Hood looking to undermine her, if that’s what you’re suggesting,” he retorted sharply, feeling more and more suspicious and prickly. He didn’t know Nyreen’s game, and he was uncomfortable with the idea that her suggestion could get back to Aria. It could compromise his eventual escape off the station. Nyreen took a tentative step closer, her palms held out in a placating gesture. “I mean that in a good way,” she said firmly. “If anyone is the vigilante Robin Hood, it’s me. I’m here because I want your help.” 

Reyes turned slowly to face her, his eyes narrowed, a tumbler of whiskey in his hand. He took a small sip from the tumbler as he studied her. Finally he spoke, his voice cold and neutral. “I don’t just help people for the sake of helping. I’m not a good man. I don’t just do good things. I have… other goals. So if you want something, you need to tell me what I’ll get in return.” 

Nyreen gave a small sigh, and to Reyes’ pique, there seemed to be some pity in her eyes. “She’s done a real number on you, hasn’t she?” she said softly. Reyes felt a flush of hot anger at the back of his neck, but only because she was right. He kept his face impassive and just stared at her steadily, his eyebrows raised slightly. Nyreen eventually sighed again and gave in. “If you help me with a job, I’ll owe you a favour. You’ve already seen that I’m good at sneaking into places I shouldn’t be. A favour from me could be very valuable someday.” 

Reyes raised his chin in a slight challenge. “And if I don’t help you, you’ll rat on me to Aria?”

Nyreen shook her head. “No, not at all. Aria and I are not… on speaking terms. Helping her is not in my interest. Besides,” she added, her voice gentle, “maybe you’re a better man than you think. Let me tell you what the job is, and you decide whether you want my help.” 

Reyes shrugged. “Go on.” 

Nyreen folded her arms and looked at him steadily. “I want to smuggle Jaya’s son Deian off of Omega.” 

Reyes couldn’t help it; he laughed. “Not exactly my definition of a small job.” Then something occurred to him. “What about the mother? Jaya’s wife?” 

Nyreen stared at him, her gaze unflinching. “She’s dead. Committed suicide after Aria dropped her back in the slums.” 

A shiver travelled down Reyes’ back, but he said nothing. When Nyreen spoke again, her voice was slightly hard. “You owe her this, Reyes.”

Reyes gazed at her coldly, ignoring the squirming discomfort in his belly as he replied. “I don’t owe anyone anything.” Nyreen opened her mouth to argue, but Reyes cut her off. “What exactly would you want me to do? I smuggle goods, not people.” Reyes ignored the hint of satisfaction on her face as she replied. “I want to get Deian to Bekenstein; Jaya’s parents live there. But there’s essentially zero transit between there and Omega… Bekenstein is too fancy for the type of crime Omega deals in.” Nyreen unfolded her arms. “Basically, I just need a ship to go from here to Bekenstein on ‘legitimate’ Omega business, so Aria doesn’t get suspicious.” 

Reyes shook his head in disbelief. “That is a huge ask. When would you want this done?”

“The sooner the better. Deian is living on the streets. I have some people keeping an eye on him, making sure he gets fed, but…” Nyreen shook her head. “And if you’re wondering why I don’t just set this up myself, well... you’ve probably figured out by now that Aria doesn’t know I’m here. I’m staying incognito.” 

“Are _you_ planning a coup?” Reyes asked coolly. “Maybe I should be ratting _you_ out to Aria.”

Nyreen looked at him intently. “Somehow, I can’t see you doing that.” Reyes stared back at her, his face impassive again. Nyreen’s mandibles quirked in a small smile. “Look. I’ve laid my cards on the table. Trust me when I say I’m a good friend to have on Omega. Think about my offer.” To his confusion, she headed back into his apartment towards the corner where she’d been awaiting his arrival. Over her shoulder, she said, “If you decide to take me up on it, just set up the transport. I’ll know about it.” 

She tapped her omni-tool, and a panel in the ceiling that Reyes did _not_ know existed suddenly slid open. His jaw literally dropped open, and Nyreen’s eyes crinkled again in a small smile. “It was nice to meet you, Reyes,” she said, her polyphonic voice bright with unspoken laughter. She reached up to the panel and jumped up into the shaft in the ceiling, and without another word, the panel slid shut and she was gone.

Reyes gaped at his ceiling in horror. _That is a huge motherfucking security breach,_ he thought in awe, then gulped the rest of his whiskey. He was also frankly stunned by Nyreen’s brazenness. _How long has she been on this station without Aria knowing? And how the hell has she avoided Aria all this time?_ He shook his head, suddenly exhausted, and pulled off his jacket. His bed suddenly looked incredibly inviting. As he climbed into bed, he mulled over his encounter with Nyreen. It seemed that she and Aria had been… close.

Clearly, Reyes wasn’t Aria’s only protege… and not the only person who had wanted to escape her spell. And a woman who was able to escape Aria’s notice on Aria’s own station could be a valuable contact indeed.

*************************

Reyes woke the next morning to the sound of a ping from his omni-tool. Blearily, he raised his right arm... then with a jolt, realized the ping had come from the old-model omni-tool sitting on his bedside table. He rolled over and grabbed it, then strapped it to his wrist and opened the holoscreen. 

_The Andromeda Initiative are recruiting._

Reyes frowned. He’d heard vaguely of the Andromeda Initiative; he knew the basic premise, but he’d always thought it was a pipe dream supported by a handful of rich people with delusions of grandeur. Before he could reply, another message from Connor came through.

_I know what you’re thinking. But it’s become a huge undertaking, both military and research personnel. They’re scheduled to launch in 2185. You’d have to submit an application soon._

A jolt of alarm pulled at Reyes’ belly. That was next year, so they would probably be bringing their recruits in for training over the course of this year. Reyes would have to act soon. He took a deep breath. _Well, I asked for an escape; you can’t get much farther than another fucking galaxy,_ he thought with humour, but his nerves were jangling. This was such a huge move… and if he went to Andromeda, it was irrevocable. There was literally no going back. 

Reyes sat up in bed and ran his fingers through his messy hair. _Fuck. Another life-changing decision to make on my own._ In truth, there was nothing keeping him in the Milky Way: no major attachments, no responsibilities to anyone. The desolate loneliness that Reyes usually pushed aside and kept in a corner of his mind threatened to overwhelm him, and he took a deep breath to push it back. Then he pulled up the flickering holoscreen and typed a reply.

_Send in an application for me? Can’t risk my messages being hacked. I’ll owe you big time. Sign me up as a shuttle pilot. You know I’m the best there is._

Connor’s reply came almost immediately. _Cocky SOB. Will do. I’ll update you on outcome._

Reyes closed the holoscreen and put the old omni-tool back on his bedside table, then laid back in bed, feeling emotionally drained. He checked the time; it was 05:17. Reyes sighed; he didn’t have to be at Afterlife for another four hours almost, but now he was wide awake. So he got up, made himself a Catalan-style espresso… and started poring through his intel for shady business hookups on Bekenstein.

*********************

As Nyreen had suggested, finding a way to set up illicit business on Bekenstein was a pain in the ass. The place was full of millionaires and was all white-collar crime - the total opposite of Omega. It took almost three weeks before Reyes finally hit upon a solution. 

As usual, it started with Reyes’ specialty: watching, observing, listening, and chatting charmingly with Omega’s residents and visitors. The first useful thing he learned was that Eclipse was looking to expand their trade of Minagen X3 beyond its usual routes to Illium. Minagen X3 was like the fancier, more expensive cousin of red sand: enhanced biotics, but lethal in large doses, and unlike red sand, illegal even on Illium. _The perfect drug for thrill-seeking billionaires with more credits than sense,_ Reyes thought to himself. But he’d had to sit on this information for almost two weeks before he could use it to his advantage.

The crucial piece came in the form of a man named Lucas Balewa, a glass engineer/artist/architect on his way to Bekenstein for a job. As soon as Reyes heard tell of this Lucas, he knew he’s found his chance. So he obtained a description of the man, and ‘serendipitously’ made Lucas’ acquaintance in the market one day when Lucas was haranguing a merchant. 

“Nobody on this sorry excuse for a station sells medigel? It’s the most common medical substance on the Citadel, for crying out loud!” Lucas threw up his hands in disgust, and Reyes noted that his left hand was wrapped in a bandage. 

Reyes sidled up next to Lucas and tipped the elcor merchant a wink. “With exasperation: welcome, human,” the elcor greeted him, then slowly trundled back into his shop. Lucas turned to Reyes, an irritated look on his face… which melted as Reyes offered him a small tube of medigel. Lucas’ face lit up as he took the tube. “Ah, thanks! You’ve no idea how long I’ve been looking for medigel. I can’t seem to find it anywhere on this godforsaken place.” Gingerly, he unwrapped the bandage on his left hand. 

“Here, let me help,” Reyes offered gallantly, and quickly applied the medigel to a long, deep gash on Lucas’s palm. “On Omega, the only place you can get medigel is at the medical clinic. Or from... special procurers, but that’s another story.” Reyes winked, gauging Lucas’ reaction. 

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Of course, I should have known. Should have just gotten all my pharmaceuticals in one place, right?” He smirked at Reyes, to Reyes’ immense satisfaction. Not only had Lucas just displayed a lack of disapproval towards illegal sales, but he’d also openly admitted to substance use. _A perfect patsy,_ Reyes thought. He continued to chat and flirt with Lucas and eventually bought him a drink, and more easily than Reyes could even believe, Lucas’ whole story came out: he was heading to Bekenstein for a two-year contract to build a combination house/art installation for some rich manufacturing tycoon named Jack Allers. It turned out that Lucas used biotics to manipulate the glass for his more ambitious projects… and he used Minagen X3 to enhance his biotics for this purpose. He had stopped in Omega specifically to replenish his personal store of Minagen. 

A few hours of flirting and drinks later, Reyes left Lucas with a promise to meet him the next night for drinks, and all the information he needed. As soon as he was back in his office in Afterlife, he sent a message to Victoria, Eclipse’s drug trade coordinator, telling her to get in touch with one Lucas Balewa - user of Minagen X3, sympathizer with smuggling, and greedy bastard who would likely jump at the chance of more money via the drug trade. 

The next day, Reyes got an email from Victoria:

> From: Victoria Xi  
>  To: Reyes Vidal  
>  Subject: Minagen 
> 
> You were right. Complete patsy. But greedy as fuck. He’ll work out perfectly.
> 
> He’ll start transporting Minagen to Bekenstein in two weeks. His next arrival on station will be on March 23rd. You’ll get your cut when he leaves. 
> 
> Xi

Reyes chuckled darkly to himself. _Sometimes I even impress myself,_ he thought. _Looks like I have another favour coming to me from one Nyreen Kandros._ Sure enough, just over two weeks later, Reyes received a short email as he was preparing himself a late-night snack:

> To: Reyes Vidal  
>  From: (none)
> 
> You did a good thing. I’m in your debt. 
> 
> -N

Reyes smirked and shook his head, then took a big bite of toast. He told himself the warm feeling in his stomach was the heat from the toast. Unfortunately, he didn’t realize how soon he would be taking Nyreen up on her debt.

*******************

Aria replaced the datapad on her desk and leaned back in her office chair. _Fucking, fucking Reyes,_ she thought darkly. There was still no one thing that conclusively pointed to him being a traitor, but Aria could just feel that something was off. The Bekenstein deal he’d brokered was undoubtedly going to be lucrative for Omega, but… Omega had never had any dealings with Bekenstein before. _How did he even think of Bekenstein? That place is white-collar as fuck._

The collection of little changes was too much. This Bekenstein deal, his unusual helpfulness towards that dancer (and Aria _knew_ for sure that he was not sleeping with her)... and all this started with that time she had permitted him to dominate her in her private quarters. _This won’t go on,_ Aria thought to herself. She pulled up her omni-tool and called him. 

“Aria. How are you?” he greeted lazily as he answered her call.

“Ge up to my office,” she replied, her voice its usual cool, despite the anger starting to roil in her chest. He stated a quick affirmative and rang off. As she waited for him to arrive, Aria slowly paced around her office like a tiger. She wasn’t sure what excuse Reyes could provide to convince her that he wasn’t up to something, but part of her hoped he had something plausible. He was just so damn _useful_. It would be a shame to lose her investment in him.

When Reyes arrived, he found Aria sitting in her office chair, legs crossed, cool and statuesque as ever. She slowly turned to face him. “Good work on the Bekenstein deal,” she said without preamble. “How did you think of it? It was… clever. Even for you.”

Reyes chuckled modestly, hands in his pockets as usual. “Jona’s drug trade coordinator was looking to expand their Minagen X3 sales. Then I met a guy in the market on his way to Bekenstein, practically gagging for more credits… It was lucky, really.” 

Aria pursed her lips slightly as she gazed at him. “Hmm.” Then she tilted her head and bluntly asked, “How long have you been back in touch with the Alliance?”

It was a complete shot in the dark. Aria didn’t really believe Reyes was back in touch with the Alliance; she thought he was having a little personal rebellion, maybe some growing pains after being under her control for over a year. She’d said it more to throw him off, get him to deny it so she could prod him further. But as soon as she said _Alliance_ , Reyes stopped breathing. 

His pause was very brief, a hitch of breath that was less than a second, and the rest of his body language remained casual… and that was how she knew. He was too controlled. She’d almost taught him too well. 

Instantly she was on her feet, her right hand flung towards him as she captured him in a stasis web. She took one slow step towards him, the simmering anger in her chest starting to boil as she called Grizz. “Get up here. Now. Bring one other; not Garka. I have an informant.” She looked at Reyes; despite the danger he was in, his face was neutral and emotionless, all traces of charm and humour gone, and she was forcibly reminded of the day they had met, when he had faced her on her dais with such quiet control before she’d had him tased and tortured. 

_Full circle,_ Aria thought to herself as she and Reyes stared at each other, unspeaking, both of their faces icy and calm. When Grizz arrived a few minutes later with another guard in tow, Aria finally spoke. “I told you loyalty was everything. You should have listened.” She walked towards the elevator and called over her shoulder to Grizz. “Bring him to the holding cells. I’ll meet you there.” 

As she took the lift down to the holding cells, she breathed deeply, trying to control her building rage. She needed to ensure she was in full control in order to get any information from Reyes. Even as an untrained Alliance berk, he’d had unusually good mastery of his own pain. However, there was one asari trick that Reyes had yet to face. _And I have no problems using it against him now,_ Aria thought darkly. After all, information was power… and Reyes was about to lose any power he thought he had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Things are starting to wrap up, you guys... I hope you're hanging in for a little longer to see how our hero fares! Thanks to any faithful readers who've stuck with me along the way <3


	11. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria drags Reyes down to the holding cells to torture him... for the second time. Will he be able to talk his way out of this confrontation? 
> 
> A/N: Trigger warning. Graphic depictions of physical and psychological violence. No smut here, folks.

Reyes inhaled and exhaled with slow, deliberate care as he descended the lift to the holding cells. His hands were cuffed, and his guards - formerly comrades - stoically avoided his gaze. Reyes didn’t care. He needed to reserve every speck of cleverness and ingenuity for the confrontation he was about to face. Aria almost never tortured anyone herself; in his 14-odd months with her, he’d only seen her torture one other person, a turian who had also become one of her staff. _Torturing me personally for the second time… I must be special,_ he thought with ironic humour. He could only hope his sick sense of humour would be a saving grace.

The elevator doors opened and the two guards frogmarched Reyes into a holding cell. In the cell, Aria leaned against the wall, one ankle crossed over the other and her arms folded, her face neutral as ever. Reyes stayed silent while one guard cuffed him to the table. Then, as the guard stepped back, Reyes looked up at Aria, a sexy smirk on his face. “Listen, Aria, if you wanted to tie me up, all you had to do was ask,” he purred. 

He knew this chauvinistic display of disrespect would infuriate her, especially in front of her lackeys. Aria had always been _very_ clear that sex was sex, and work was work. Reyes would never normally pull this kind of shit, but… _desperate times call for desperate measures,_ he thought grimly. 

Sure enough, Aria’s lips compressed slightly in anger, and she pushed away from the wall to approach him slowly. Her hand moved faster than he thought possible, and his head whipped back as she backhanded him hard across the mouth. He paused, inhaling hard through his nose to master the red-hot pain. After a long moment, he turned his head to face her and smiled slowly. A trickle of bloody saliva leaked from the corner of his mouth - a result of biting his cheek and tongue when she struck him. Sensually, he licked the blood from the corner of his lip. “Lick this off for me, will you? I can’t quite… reach.” He winked at her. 

Aria bared her teeth in a furious grimace as the guard nervously bent down to shackle his feet to the floor. “Get out,” she snapped at the guard, and Reyes forced his face not to register surprise. The guard, apparently equally surprised, stammered a response. “B-but Aria, his feet-” 

“I said _get out,_ ” she repeated, her voice ringing with cold authority. The guard stumbled to his feet, and he and his compatriot fled the holding area. _Sloppy,_ Reyes thought in wonder. _I must really be getting to her._

Before he had time to feel any satisfaction that his ploy was working, Aria flicked her wrist at him and he was paralyzed in a stasis web. Aria looked down at him, her face lifted in a small smirk that sent a chill down his spine. “We both know what comes next,” she said conversationally, her voice condescending. “I ask you a question, you stare at me like the good little soldier you are, and I hurt you. That’s boring. So why don’t we just cut to the chase.” She walked over to the table of torture implements and grabbed the short, sharp knife that Reyes had used countless times to inflict sharp cuts. He kept his face calm, his breathing controlled as she approached him with the knife. _Anything she wants to do, I’ve done a hundred times,_ he told himself. He’d been training for this; he could handle it. 

But he hadn’t anticipated what she did next. 

Aria reached down and shattered the handcuff on his right hand with a small, powerful mass effect field, freeing his right arm. She grabbed his arm, still paralyzed by the stasis field, and laid it on the table wrist-up. Then she twirled the knife around her fingers once with casual elegance, then ruthlessly sliced a longitudinal cut deep into the skin and flesh of his right wrist. 

Reyes hissed in a panicked breath as she dragged the knife along his arm, blood pouring from the cut like something from a horror movie. When she finally lifted the knife, he stared in horror at an incision that was almost six inches along. Aria made a small satisfied noise, and Reyes’ eyes flew up to her face to see her pupils dilated and her lips curled in a smirk. She dropped the knife on the table, then dug her fingers into the incision.

“Urrrrrghhh!” Reyes couldn’t smother the muffled cry of pain; the agony was unbelievable, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the horrific scene. Aria gave a cold laugh, then seemed to grab hold of something inside of his arm. The nausea rising in his throat peaked as he realized what she was doing: she was ripping out his omni-tool implant with her bare hands. Sure enough, a second later, she gave a sharp tug, and Reyes’ vision went black for a moment as the implant roughly parted ways with his nerves and muscles. 

Reyes heaved and vomited onto the floor at the sight of his own mangled arm. He gasped for breath, then immediately tried to control his panic with a hard inhale through his nose. He held his breath and swallowed, then forced himself to look up at her. 

She smiled at him, her face alight with satisfaction, her lips flushed with arousal. Reyes felt a surge of hatred and disgust as she examined the bloody omni-tool implant with mild curiosity. “I’m sure I’ll get plenty of information from this,” she told him matter-of-factly. Reyes forced his attention away from his throbbing arm and focused on one single thought: _She doesn’t know about the old-model omni-tool._ She might get some implicitly incriminating information from his new omni-tool implant, but the old omni-tool was the one that had everything about his escape… and it was shoved safely into his boot, as it had been every day since Aria had first called him to her dais to suspiciously ask him about Karine. 

Aria tucked the implant into an inner pocket of her short jacket and turned back to face him, her face bored and placid as she flicked her right hand dismissively and the stasis web disappeared. He tried agonizingly to move the fingers of his right hand; the ring and pinky fingers moved slightly, as well as his thumb, but the index and middle fingers remained ominously still. “You’ll bleed out if you don’t get that arm treated soon,” she informed him, her arms folded smugly across her chest. “It would be in your best interests to tell me something I can use. Who have you been talking to in the Alliance?” She tilted her head and eyed him. “That Bekenstein guy, perhaps?” 

Reyes took a deep, slow breath - _in, one, two, three_ \- and tilted his chin up cockily. He ignored the pain, throbbing in his wrist in time to his heartbeat, and the sweat that dripped down his face. “Maybe I’ll tell you if you say ‘please, Reyes.’” He grinned… the same cold, reptilian grin he had learned from her. 

Aria’s lips curled in a snarl as her temper snapped. She bent down and grabbed his throat with crushing force. “Don’t you play with me, little boy,” she hissed. Her face was level with his. Immediately he dropped his chin towards his chest and rammed the crown of his head full into her face. Aria stumbled back - the first and only time Reyes had ever seen her stumble - and dabbed her nose delicately with one finger: a trickle of blue blood leaked from her nostril.

She raised her face to look at him, and he felt goosebumps rise on his arms at the look of unfettered rage on her face. “You think you know me because we fuck sometimes, but you have no idea what you’re dealing with,” she hissed. Suddenly, Reyes was held in a stasis web again. She advanced on him and straddled his left leg, then forced his head back with one hand on his throat until he was staring into her eyes. Her pupils were huge, their blackness almost taking over the ice-blue of her irises. But… _Wait a second,_ Reyes thought with sudden trepidation, as he noticed that the corners of her eyes were going black as well.

Reyes stared at her. Her eyes were gradually turning full black as she squeezed his throat. _Hang on. Isn’t this what asari do when…?_ He’d heard of ‘embracing eternity’, the asari term for mind-melding during sex, but he had never experienced it, and he and Aria were definitely _not_ having sex. _What the fuck…?_

Suddenly, Reyes wasn’t in the holding cells in Omega. He was five years old in Barcelona, standing outside the school gates alone, his parents nowhere to be seen - he was gawky teenager, spitting blood on the ground and forcing back tears as a bigger kid laughed tauntingly - he was on the ground on his hands and knees, his head ringing from a krogan’s punch to his left ear - Jaya’s kid, the void of his huge violet eyes - Connor Chen’s face staring intently at him as he knocked the bar twice with his knuckles then laughed - a shadowy figure in his apartment - _no, no she can’t see more than that-_

Reyes thrashed violently and bellowed incoherently, breaking Aria’s stasis web while she was focused on ripping his memories forcibly from his mind. Aria backed up a slight step. “Well well, Reyes, you have some spirit. What are you hiding?” she mused, her voice soft, almost a whisper, and all the more menacing for its softness. Reyes gasped for breath, unable to speak, his whole body shaking and his heart thundering in his ears. It felt as though something private and something personal, something nobody else should see, was being dragged out of his body by an uncontrollable force. Aria grabbed his throat again, her eyes black, and Reyes felt panic rising in his throat. If he’d known Aria could mind-rape him whenever she fucking felt like it, he wouldn’t have - 

Suddenly, the world turned inside out in a blast of noise and confusion. Stars burst behind Reyes’ eyelids as his head slammed into the ground. He coughed fitfully as a cloud of dust and debris obscured his vision, and his ears rang. Through the ringing, he heard Aria’s voice. “What the fucking motherfucker is going on up there?” Aria shouted - presumably into her omni-tool and not at him, since there was no one else around. 

“Biotic bomb,” came Grizz’s tinny reply through her omni-tool. “What?!” Aria demanded. “How in the name of the vorcha-fucking goddess did a biotic motherfucking bomb get into my fucking club? You know what, I don’t want to hear it,” she snapped as Grizz tried to stammer a reply. “Get the asari to fan out, sweep for more. They’re to minimize damage…”

Reyes listened to her biting off orders as he moved his limbs - _thank Christ, all functioning_ , he thought - then realized that his left arm, the restrained arm, was free. The cuff still dangled from his wrist, but it had become dislodged from the table. He felt a powerful surge of relief that was almost orgasmic. Even though his right arm was useless, he had a fighting chance. His eyes darted around the room, looking for a weapon amidst the rubble. Surely there was a beam or twisted piece of broken furniture he could use… His heart leapt with hope as he spotted the short, sharp knife that Aria had used to slice his arm, on the ground just three feet away. He tucked his right arm against his chest, trying to keep the forearm elevated; then, quietly and slowly, he pulled his feet under himself, and slowly reached for the knife with his left hand.

Aria was finishing her orders; he didn’t have much time. He slowly wrapped his fingers around the knife. As quietly as possible, he shifted up behind her. She closed her omni-tool and turned around… and Reyes surged to his feet, the small knife in his left hand slamming into her abdomen. She gave a startled grunt of pain. Ruthlessly he pulled the knife out and stabbed her a second time. Her eyes flew to his, burning with rage. “You… traitorous fuck,” she gasped, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw her omni-tool flare. _Shit, she’s going to pull up an omni-blade,_ he thought frantically, and swiftly he twisted the knife in her abdomen. He felt Aria’s animalistic grunt of pain as a punch to his own stomach. He swallowed hard and gazed into her ice-blue eyes - so beautiful, and so fucking deadly. “Goodbye, Aria,” he murmured, and kissed her hard and swift on the mouth, then ripped the knife from her abdomen and fled. If she got medical help quickly enough, she would survive… and despite everything she’d done, everything she was, he didn’t have the heart to finish her. Her scream of rage, laced with agony, echoed in his ears as he tore through the hall. He glanced over his shoulder quickly - huge mistake. He saw the expanding bubble of violently purple biotic energy a split second before he felt it. He was lifted off his feet, the wall was flying towards his face, _Fuck this is going to hurt-_

************************

“Reyes. Reyes!” 

A hand lightly slapping his face. Reyes opened his eyes slowly. Blurry blobs swam in his double vision for a moment before resolving into three familiar faces: Karine, an asari dancer named Marin, and a human waitress Reyes named Tanya. Karine and Marin were crouched over his supine form. Reyes flinched as alertness slammed back in full force, and instinctively he tried to shove the dancers away. “Relax!” Marin hissed, gently pushed his arm down. The waitress, who was standing and peeking through a crack in the door, turned towards them. “Shhh!” she hissed at the other two, looking frankly petrified. 

Karine looked down at Reyes with a smile of relief. “Hey! Oh _crisse_ , good timing. You have to get out of here. They’re on a manhunt. The biotic bombs were a nice touch,” she added, looking highly impressed. 

Reyes didn’t bother to correct her misconception; if Aria’s people thought he’d set the biotic bombs in Afterlife, it might give him a reputation that could work to his advantage. He didn’t know who was responsible for the bombs, but he was certainly thanking the stars for them now. He pushed himself into a sitting position with his right hand - then realized that his right arm wasn’t totally useless. He looked at it; it had been hastily filled with medigel. The wound was a hideous gaping mess, and two of his fingers still weren’t moving, but at least it was no longer bleeding. 

“I always carry medigel, even though my dad passed,” Karine said a in low voice. Reyes looked up at her with a smile and quickly stroked her cheek. “Thank you,” he murmured, and she beamed at him, her eyes shining. 

“We have to move,” Marin said briskly, her calm and efficient manner hinting at military training in her past. “Tanya, are we clear?”

Tanya, who was practically vibrating with nervous energy, nodded. “Yeah. But I dunno for how long…” Marin ignored her last sentence and pulled briskly at Reyes’ left arm. “Okay, Vidal, get up.” Reyes stood with help from Karine and Marin, but as soon as he gained his feet, the room spun around him and he almost fell over. 

“ _Tabarnak,_ ” Karine swore. “Come on, Reyes, you have to work with us here.” A note of stress had crept into her voice, and Reyes forced an inhale through his nose to master his nausea and dizziness. Tentatively, he took a step forward, the two dancers’ arms supporting him, and they made it to the door. 

Marin gently pushed Tanya aside and peeked out. “Clear,” she muttered, and quietly, the four of them slipped out of their hiding place. Reyes shook his head slightly, trying to clear his thoughts. He didn’t recognize the part of the station they were in; the hiding space was a windowless room with an old analog lock, seemingly an unused storage room, and the hall they were in was plain but tasteful, with red walls and dim lighting. “Where are we?” he asked. 

“Temporary quarters for dancers and waitstaff,” Karine answered shortly. She seemed more afraid now. “We have to hurry. They could get here any second.” 

Despite the pounding in his temples, Reyes forced himself to walk without the dancers’ support, giving them both a reassuring nod until they released his arms. “Closest exit?” he asked, his well-trained mask of control slipping back into place. Marin replied. “End of the hall, one flight of stairs up. Comes out into a quiet alleyway.” Reyes nodded briskly and started towards the end of the hall - then paused and turned to the three women. “Go back,” he said firmly but kindly. “You can’t be seen with me. I’ll be fine from here.” His eyes fell on Karine; her eyebrows were drawn up in worry, her lip trembling. He smiled cheekily at her and tapped her chin with one finger. “I promise.” 

Karine shoved forward and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him on the lips. The sudden impact made a wave of pain slam over his head, but he forced himself not to register her it as he permitted her kiss. “Karine, now!” Marin snapped impatiently, and Karine drew back. “Bye, Reyes,” she whispered. He smiled at her as she drew back, then shook Marin’s hand briskly and squeezed Tanya’s shoulder in thanks, and the nervous waitress finally smiled. “Thank you,” he said softly, then without another backwards glance, he jogged to the end of the hall. 

As Marin promised, the stairs led straight out into a dark alley. Reyes slipped out of the door and closed it silently behind him, then shifted into the darkest corner of the alley and paused. His head was pounding, and the ground shifted under his every step. His whole body ached from myriad bruises, and a slow, throbbing pain was making its way along his half-paralyzed right arm from his fingertips to his bicep. He was exhausted. But he didn’t allow himself more than thirty seconds to catch his breath and check that the old omni-tool was still safely in his boot before falling back into his Alliance training and slipping into the shadows. 

He couldn’t go back to his apartment or the barracks. There was only one place on Omega that he thought he might be safe. 

****************

Hours later, Reyes slipped into the alley at the back of Mordin’s clinic and slumped down in the corner close to the back door, beside the bins containing medical waste. He was at the end of his strength. His right arm had started bleeding again despite the medigel, and he was having a hard time staying awake, which was probably a bad sign given how many times he’d hit his head tonight. He knew he needed medical attention if he wanted to make it through the night. Reyes couldn’t speak for the rest of the clinic’s staff, but Mordin was the consummate professional, and wouldn’t tell anyone - including Aria - that he had treated Reyes, so as to not violate patient/clinician confidentiality. So Reyes settled down to wait, knowing that the sharp salarian doctor would eventually notice that someone was sitting outside his back door. 

Reyes started suddenly at the cool press of a pistol under his chin. He jerked to wakefulness, uncertain how much time had passed, and his eyes darted up to his assailant. Relief washed over him as he recognized Mordin’s wrinkled face. “Hmm. Not surprised you’re here,” Mordin said, then sheathed his his pistol and hauled Reyes to his feet with surprising strength. “Although, mildly surprised to see you alive.” 

“You heard what happened?” Reyes asked, bending over slightly and bracing his palms against his knees as a wave of nausea and pain washed over him. Mordin sniffed noncommittally and didn’t answer as he led Reyes into the empty clinic. Reyes had no idea what time it was, but if the clinic was empty, it must be a god-awful hour of morning. Mordin ushered him onto an examination table, then immediately began scanning him head-to-toe with his enhanced omni-tool. He blinked with slight surprise as he scanned Reyes’ head. “Multiple closed-head injuries, but no hemorrhaging. Fortunate. Cerebral contusions only.” He continued scanning down along Reyes’ body. 

“Heavy damage at Afterlife. Hard to ignore,” Mordin finally said as he scanned Reyes’ right arm. He tutted. “Main arteries intact; very lucky. Ulnar and radial nerves largely intact. Medial nerve severed. Damaged muscle tissue and tendons, debris in wound.” He tutted again, then continued scanning. 

“Aren’t you going to fix it?” Reyes asked in surprise. Mordin looked up at him reproachfully. “Not life-threatening. Must finish triage first.” Reyes shrugged apologetically, then complied with the rest of Mordin’s exam as Mordin scanned him, rotated his limbs, palpated and tapped his abdomen, listened to his heart and lungs. Finally, Mordin stepped back and gave a brisk nod. “Very fortunate, all things considered. No internal hemorrhaging. Bruising to right kidney; will monitor urinary function closely. Multiple contusions over body, but no bone fractures. Right arm injury may be debilitating, but can perform surgery. Blood loss and dehydration, risk of hypovolemic shock. Will monitor sodium and calcium levels carefully, treat with IV fluids and transfusion. Main concern is concussions. Will require time to recover. Cannot sleep for 24 hours.” Reyes nodded in resignation; he had figured as much. “When will I be able to leave?” he asked. 

Mordin snorted dismissively. “Leave? Can’t leave. Serious medical treatment required, including surgery.” 

Reyes sighed and gave Mordin a frank look. “I can’t stay here. Aria will be looking for me. Her people might be on their way now.” 

“Treatment necessary. Worry about Aria later,” Mordin replied placidly and briskly resumed his care, seemingly doing five things at once as he slid IV lines into Reyes’ left arm and tapped at the IV distribution machine, gave Reyes pills to swallow and a huge glass of water, and ushered Reyes over to the now-familiar microsurgery machine that had healed the hand that Mordin had shot during their first meeting. 

Suddenly, something occurred to Reyes. The salarian doctor had known there was an incident at Afterlife. “Mordin… were you at Afterlife earlier?” 

Mordin looked up ditractedly from the microsurgery machine’s control display. “Hmm?” he murmured absentmindedly, and Reyes repeated his question. “Were you at Afterlife? Did… did you see Aria?” He was uncertain what he wanted the answer to be. 

Mordin frowned reproachfully at Reyes. “Was at Afterlife, yes.” He returned his attention to the machine and said nothing more on the subject, and Reyes was actually grateful for the doctor’s discretion. He hoped Mordin would show similar restraint when Aria’s people inevitably asked about him. 

Mordin finished tapping at the machine’s console, and it hummed to life. “Keep still,” Mordin ordered, and clipped a small device to Reyes’ left earlobe. The device led to a small battery pack-looking machine that Mordin clipped to the back of Reyes’ pants. 

“What’s that?” Reyes asked. Mordin looked up, a tiny smirk on his salarian features. “Vibrates and pinches earlobe every 7-10 minutes. Will keep you awake.” Mordin gave Reyes one last critical look, then nodded in satisfaction. “Surgery will take four hours. Keep still.” He strode away without another word, humming to himself as usual.

Reyes sighed. Thankfully, the pain all over his body and head was dissipating thanks to the meds Mordin had given him. He was already feeling better and more alert from the IV. He wished he had thought to ask what time it was. Suddenly, he remembered his old omni-tool in his boot. _Fuck, but Mordin said to stay still,_ he thought. He glanced down the hall; Mordin wasn’t in sight. So Reyes slowly bent his left knee up, bringing it within reach of his left hand, and wiggled his fingers into his boot until he felt the old omni-tool. He couldn’t put the strap on, but awkwardly he fumbled with the small machine until the holoscreen flickered to life. The time was 04:27. Reyes had a jolt of panic; by the time his surgery was completed, it would be almost 08:30, and Aria’s people could come around earlier than that and force their way in. Would Mordin be willing to hide him until his surgery was over?

Mordin appeared again, striding down the corridor towards Reyes, his eyes on a datapad. He veered left towards a different room in the clinic, but Reyes called out to him. “Mordin, can we speed this up at all? Aria’s people might come before it’s finished.”

Mordin glanced over, an experienced doctor’s long-suffering expression of patience painted on his narrow face. “Not possible. Surgery takes four hours to complete.” He started to walk away. 

“Mordin!” snapped Reyes, urgency making him irritable. “This surgery won’t be worth shit Aria’s people force their way in here and murder me first.”

Mordin turned back to him again, and the look on his face was hard, businesslike… uncannily similar to Aria’s. “Nobody enters clinic without my permission,” Mordin replied his voice hard, and a shiver ran down Reyes’ back as his eyes fell on the doctor’s ever-present Carnifex. “Continued talking not conducive to healing. Stay still, or procedure will take longer.” Reyes obeyed slightly petulantly; he knew Mordin well enough to recognize the doctor’s version of _Shut The Fuck Up_ when he heard it. 

Four hours and dozens of annoying pinches to the earlobe later, Reyes sat in a small examination room at the back of the clinic. The clinic was due to open in about 20 minutes, and Reyes was having an increasingly hard time hiding how antsy he was feeling. The doctor had tried to convince Reyes to remain in the clinic for another 24 hours in order to monitor his kidney function and electrolytes, but Reyes was insistent on leaving. Mordin had made Reyes sign an AMA form and had left the room in his version of a snit (striding away faster than usual without humming) to get Reyes a small supply of pain meds. Reyes waited for Mordin’s return, his leg jiggling with impatience.

Just then, a tiny noise in the ceiling caught Reyes’ attention. He slid off the examination table and over to the supply cart, thinking to grab a suture kit or scalpel or _anything_ really that could be used as a weapon. His hand was halfway into one drawer when a familiar turian voice floated through the ceiling.

“Hey. You want to call in your debt now?” 

His shoulders wilted in relief. “Nyreen. Jesus Christ. Your timing is impeccable.” 

“No time to waste. You need to get in here. Use the table.” 

Reyes immediately obeyed, stepping up on the examination table as an unobtrusive panel in the ceiling slid back. “Jump for it; I’ll haul you through if you need,” she said, her voice low. Reyes jumped for the opening, his hands gripping the edges. He pulled himself up with some effort, trying to favour his right side as to not further injure his kidney. He slid his legs into the panel and shuffled forward to clear the opening, then heard it slide closed beneath him, enclosing him in darkness. “Move forward,” Nyreen’s voice said from behind him. “We’ll talk when we’re clear of here. If Mordin hears us, he’ll lock the clinic down.” Reyes didn’t waste his breath replying, and shuffled forward on his hands and knees. 

He followed Nyreen’s whispered directions for what felt like a very long time until they reached a grate, through which Reyes could see a noisy room filled with pipes that looked like some kind of boiler room. Nyreen instructed him to move past the grate, then quietly she removed the grate, leaving it hanging by one screw as she backed up then slid through the opening feet-first. Reyes followed her, landing neatly on his feet beside her as she stepped out of the way. She looked him over quickly. “Either Mordin patched you up really fast, or she took it easy on you,” Nyreen said finally. “You’d be incapacitated with four broken limbs if she’d really meant to hurt you.”

“There was a biotic bomb in Afterlife,” Reyes explained. “It was sheer fucking luck. She was… her eyes went black…” He exhaled heavily as the horrific memory rushed back. He looked up at Nyreen, who was scrutinizing him closely with her catlike green eyes.

“The biotic bomb was me,” she said simply. Reyes stared at her in surprise, and Nyreen’s mandibles flared in a small smile. “You’re not the only one with favours among Aria’s people,” she explained gently. “But… if she… _melded_ with you by force, you must have really made her mad. Either that, or you really have some intel she wants.” 

Reyes sighed, exhaustion sweeping over him. He still wasn’t allowed to sleep for another 16 hours or so, and that thought made him feel even more fatigued. “I did piss her off. On purpose, so she’d get sloppy. Which she did. Nyreen, all I want is to get off this station.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “Not sure how I’m going to do that now that I’m number one on her shit list.” 

Nyreen cocked her head and folded her arms. “You up for another round of exchanged favours? I know you still have... sympathetic acquaintances on the station. I’ll get you out if you help me.” 

Reyes gave her a long, suspicious look. “Why help me? I’m just one guy. This station is probably full of people - more innocent people - who want to get out. Why me?” They stared at each other for a long moment, and Reyes got the impression Nyreen was trying to decide how much to tell him. 

Finally she sighed and ran a hand along her mandible. “I was in a similar position to you, at one time. But you’re not as principled as I am.” Reyes smirked and gave her a mock bow, and she waved irritably at him. “I’m serious. Aria always said I’m too ‘ethical’ for my own good. I can’t leave Omega; the people here need me. She runs roughshod over them. And besides…” She trailed off, then spoke again, her voice firm but sad. “I love Aria. Even if she doesn’t want me, even if she has no idea I’m here… I can’t leave even if I wanted to. 

“But you,” she pointed at Reyes, “there’s something akin to Aria in you. You’re more like her than I ever was. If you don’t leave, if you challenge her, civil war will break out on Omega. And I can’t let that happen.” Her speech concluded, Nyreen folded her arms again and looked at him. “So. You’ll do some favours for the good of Omega, and I’ll get you off the station. Deal?”

Grumpily, Reyes nodded; he hadn’t any choice. “Don’t know how I’ll get anything done without a proper omni-tool, but fine,” he grumbled. Nyreen gave another small smile. “You’re a resourceful man, Reyes. You’ve got that old omni-tool, right?” Reyes nodded, unsurprised that she knew about it; she’d snuck into his apartment, after all. Nyreen nodded approval. “Use that. Sending and receiving messages will likely be enough. You’re quite well-liked on Omega, you know.” 

*********************

_You’re in. Pilot for shuttle N-503, callsign Anubis. The briefing for new candidates is on the Initiative's station, the Nexus, on July 25. Good luck._

Reyes closed down his old omni-tool with a surge of excitement. It had been almost six weeks since he’d escaped from Aria, and he’d been wondering what had happened with the application Connor had sent in for him. 

After his first week in hiding, he’d stopped trying to keep track of how many ‘favours’ he had done for Nyreen, and had simply resigned himself to doing whatever tasks she asked. His little network of quiet favours on Omega was coming in handy, and Nyreen kept telling him that he was doing good, that he was helping the people of Omega every time he smuggled her a crate of medical supplies or rations, or whenever he brought her information about a civvy who needed housing or medical help or a way off the station. He shrugged it off, telling her he was just passing the time. But working with Nyreen was certainly more relaxing than working for Aria; he had to move locations every day to avoid Aria’s ongoing search patrols, and he never talked to anyone except Nyreen (messages via his old omni-tool didn’t count), but at least he hadn’t needed to scrub anyone’s blood out from under his nails for a good few weeks. 

Reyes ran his hand over his beard and tapped out a quick message to Nyreen. Ten minutes later, a hidden panel in the wall slid open, and the tall female turian stepped into the room. “Good news?” she asked. 

“I got accepted into the Andromeda Initiative. Their briefing is on July 25. I need a ride before then.” 

“No kidding? My cousin Tiran signed up for that. I thought he was joking when I heard.” Nyreen clicked her mandibles in thought. “I can manage that. That’s in what, three weeks?” She rubbed her neck thoughtfully, then nodded. “Yeah, it’s doable. Keep your disguise, it’ll make things easier.”

“No shit,” Reyes replied sardonically, but gave her a grateful wave as she left the room. Reyes had let himself get totally dishevelled over the past six weeks in case he had to go out anywhere in public. His hair had grown out and he wore the longest of it in a shitty topknot; he had a scraggly black beard; and Nyreen had gotten him some blue contact lenses, which he wore every day. He’d affected a limp which he was starting to worry would become permanent if he didn’t stop doing it soon, and he resisted bathing more often than every three days, to his own disgust and Nyreen’s amusement. 

Now that he had a location and an exit date, he felt energized. _Almost free,_ he thought to himself as he sat on the makeshift pallet of cushions that had been his bed for the past six weeks. _In three weeks, I’ll have a new life. And in 600 years, a new home._ He started to run his hand through his greasy hair out of habit, but stopped when his fingers collided with the annoying topknot. The past 16 months had been like a fucking roller coaster. After all this… excitement, Reyes thought he might even enjoy going back to the simple life of a shuttle pilot. 

************************

**Four weeks later…**

“... the bonus from Bekenstein will go into rebuilding. And skim off 1% for Bray. He earned it with that little crackdown on the Red Talons the other day.” Aria tapped the datapad, then handed it back to Anto boredly. “Is there anything else?”

“Yes. Umm… Mordin’s clinic received a huge influx of credits by anonymous donation three days ago. The credit account it came from is closed now, but…” Anto trailed off, quailing slightly as Aria slowly raised her eyes to look at him, her face closed but her eyes suddenly burning. Anto swallowed and continued. “We traced it back to an account that was opened here about… about eighteen months ago.” 

Aria took a deep slow breath, then released it equally slowly. _Reyes. Fucking. Vidal,_ she thought. “How nice for Mordin. Is that all?” she asked, her voice carefully bland. Anto shook his head hastily. Aria waved her hand in dismissal, and he gave a quick nod and descended the dais. Aria stood from her couch and stretched, feeling not even a twinge from the injuries Reyes had inflicted, thanks to Mordin’s care. 

Four weeks after the Bomb Clusterfuck, as she called it, and Afterlife was running almost normally again. Her asari staff had found two more biotic bombs on the premises and had deactivated them. The most annoying part of Reyes’ disappearance - apart from the fact that she hadn’t found the little fucker, of course - was that she’d had to resume all the duties he had been doing. She was back to being incredibly busy with managing all the smuggling deals and consults, which had seemed to double during the time that Reyes had taken over that side of her business. 

Aria knew of only one person who had the resources and abilities to plant biotic bombs on her property: Nyreen Kandros. Her suspicions were confirmed by that suspicious email from Reyes’ hacked omni-tool, the one from no sender and signed simply _N_. Aria had had a (private) ragefit when she’d imagined her two former lovers defying her and working together. However, she’d reminded herself that lily-white, ethical, manipulable Nyreen would never openly challenge her; and as time went on and she saw neither overt nor covert challenges stinking of Reyes Vidal, she’d allowed herself to relax, though she maintained staff on daily rotating patrols looking for him. 

Aria’s omni-tool pinged, alerting her to a new email. She pulled up her holoscreen and tapped it… and her eyes widened slightly as she read the email.

> To: Aria T’Loak  
> From: Reyes Vidal
> 
> I’m emailing you because I’m beyond your reach now. I joined the Andromeda Initiative. A lot of Alliance people and billionaires would be pretty mad if you tried to crash the party.
> 
> Just wanted to say goodbye. And... thanks.
> 
> For all the sex, I mean. It was great.
> 
> -R

Aria stared at the message for a good two minutes. Then, unexpectedly, she laughed. _Motherfucking, arrogant, cheeky little son of a volus whore._ “Anto,” she barked, and Anto appeared at her side. “Call off the search patrols. Reyes Vidal is dead.”

Anto’s upper pair of eyes widened. “He’s dead?”

Aria nodded. _As good as dead,_ she thought. _Either that Initiative joke fails en route, or he’ll be in cryo for centuries._ “I just received confirmation. Call the patrols off. I’ll reassign roles immediately.” Anto nodded and smiled, already pulling up his omni-tool as he walked away. 

Aria settled back on her couch and slung her arms along the back, enjoying a moment of peace and relaxation in the knowledge that Reyes Vidal was gone for good… and that he was literally going to a different galaxy to get away from her. _I knew he’d do anything to save his pretty neck,_ she thought with amusement. She stopped the smug smile from showing on her face and flicked on her omni-tool, her thoughts already back to reassigning her staff. 

After all, a pirate queen’s work was never done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Nyreen Kandros: world's loveliest, coolest cinnamon roll. Miss herrrrr :(
> 
> I toyed with trying to find a way to sneak Garrus in here again... but I couldn't make it work. Sometimes, your space husband just has to sit out. Sigh.


	12. Epilogue

Reyes took a deep breath and swallowed, his throat raw from talking. He was still seated against the head of the bed. Mara had changed positions dozens of times during his tale, from snuggled against his chest comfortingly, to rolling on the bed laughing at his account of Mordin Solus, to running to the bathroom for tissues to wipe her tears. 

Reyes’ hair was dishevelled from running his hands through it while telling his story. He lifted the glass of water from the bedside table and drank deeply from it, then turned and met Mara’s green eyes. She was facing him, her arms wrapped around her knees, tear tracks marking her cheeks. “Reyes, that’s… incredible. And it explains so much,” she said, her voice rough from crying. 

He gave her a small smile, and though his smile was warm, Mara could see that his eyes were haunted, the shadows of his past wafting within their bronze depths. “Smuggler, murderer, torturer, thief… all thanks to Aria. But Nyreen helped. She showed me that intentions and motivations matter.” He shrugged. “Maybe I’m not a good man, but at least I’m better than a common criminal.” 

“You _are_ good,” Mara retorted fiercely. Reyes laughed at her scowl and pulled her over to lie against his chest as she continued. “You protect the outpost, you provide supplies to everyone on the Nexus, and you got rid of Sloane.” Mara suddenly gasped. “Sloane! That’s why you had to take her down, isn’t it? She was like Aria.”

Reyes gave a nasty little laugh. “No, she wasn’t. She didn’t hold a candle to Aria. Sloane may have had Aria’s cruelty, but she… no, Sloane was a common criminal. She had none of Aria’s control or intelligence. She was a thug with too much power, nothing more.” Mara looked up at his face; it was cold and controlled, the face of the Charlatan… the face that Aria had cultivated. 

Mara sat up in the bed and looked carefully at Reyes’ haughty, controlled face. Her own eyes were soft with understanding as she gently turned his chin to look at her. He raised a questioning eyebrow. “Did you love Aria?” she asked gently. He’d danced around it in his story, had never really said that he had… but Mara wondered how he couldn’t help but love someone who had been such a huge influence on him.

Reyes sighed, the Charlatan falling away to leave her warm, slightly vulnerable Reyes behind. “I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “It was probably just Stockholm syndrome. She cut my fucking arm open, for fuck’s sake, she - she ripped my memories from my mind by force. Who could love someone like that?” He ran his hand through his hair in agitation, and Mara grabbed his hand and squeezed it. 

“Hey,” she said soothingly, “It’s okay. You don’t have to explain yourself. I’m just… I’m so happy you told me all of this. I know it was hard.” 

Reyes took a huge breath and exhaled gustily. Then he turned to her, his cradling her cheek with his hand, his bronze eyes intense. “Mara... I’ve never told anyone anything like what I told you today. I told the Initiative I was held captive on Omega, but not much more than that. I mean, it’s ancient history now. Aria is probably dead…” Suddenly and inexplicably, and to Reyes’ complete horror, tears were burning the back of his eyes. He turned away from Mara and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes, fighting back the sob of grief that was clawing at his throat for escape. Mara’s warm embrace enveloped him as she wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, her face pressed against his back as she murmured comfortingly to him. He turned in her arms and hugged her fiercely, his face pressed into her neck, his hot tears scalding her skin. 

Minutes later, Reyes took a deep breath and pulled away, then cradled Mara’s face in both hands. “Mara, you have to know… Nothing I ever felt for her was even a fraction of how I feel about you. I… When I was with her, I was always below her, but trying to one-up her. It was all about controlling each other. But with you... I just want to be with you, to try and be on your level…” He gave little self-deprecating laugh and touched his forehead to hers. “Not that I could ever be on your level. You’re something else, Ryder.” 

Mara wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed, her chest swelling with joy at his words and his honesty. “Back at you, Vidal.” They kissed tenderly, his thumb stroking her cheek, and Mara pressed herself close to him so they shared the heat of their naked torsos.

They broke apart, and Reyes smiled at her, then gave a huge sigh. “Well. Now that I’m all open and exposed, do you want to tell _me_ a story?” 

Mara threw back her head and laughed. “Do I ever! So when Scott and I were little, we used to run around on the Citadel with the embassy and military kids. This one time, some asari kid told Scott that if he ate a bunch of lightbulbs, hit butt would glow like a hanar’s posterior end. So obviously…”

Mara continued to talk, gesticulating enthusiastically. Reyes grinned as he watched her, marvelling at her bright and optimistic personality, her fierceness when it came to her crew and her family, and her uncomplicated acceptance of him. Aria T’Loak may have unleashed his inherent darkness, but Mara had pulled him into the light. And Reyes Vidal wanted nothing more than to enjoy the Kadaran sunlight with his Pathfinder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Guys... I'm feeling emotional. 
> 
> To anyone who stuck with me through until the end, THANK YOU. This hasn't been a popular story, I know, but it meant so much to me to write it, and I hope it meant something to those of you who read along. 
> 
> Special thanks and HUGS x 1000000 to flight_feather for her unwavering support and readership! Love love love!!!
> 
> And now... I'm going to go cry in the corner with some ice cream. Peace.


End file.
